The Gift
by iwgaaf30y
Summary: When Tom and Margo Hughes set out on their vacation they had no idea what was in store for them... airplanes, cruise ships, mystery, and adventure - will their trip change their lives forever? Note: this story takes place prior to the summer of 2009
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Margo Hughes was not exactly sulking, but she was not exactly happy either. She sat in her office contemplating her last phone conversation. You see, the phone call was from her husband, Tom, who had called to say that he was going to be a bit late to pick her up, which wasn't unusual, nor was it unexpected. In fact, through no fault of their own the two had managed to screw up date plans for one reason or another on each or their last seven attempts to spend some quality alone time together. Some plans were thwarted because of cases that Margo was working on at the time, others were cut short due to clients that Tom was working for who needed his immediate attention, while still others were abandoned all together as a result of emotional exhaustion they so often felt after dealing with the shenanigans of their college aged son Casey.

Tonight was supposed to be different, though. Tonight was Margo's birthday and they had promised each other they would not let work or family interrupt their plans. But, as if on cue, as Margo readied herself in her new black dress with the open backed, halter style top that she bought expressly because she knew Tom would love her in it, the phone rang. Her mood broke instantly as Tom announced that his client wanted to work out a deal and that right now was the only time the D.A. could fit into her schedule. He apologized with each breath, but what else was he to do? And who was Margo to say he shouldn't help his client?

So, there she sat, all dressed up and waiting to see if Tom would get done in time to find a restaurant still serving dinner. Margo thought to herself that if their circumstances weren't so pathetically dim at the moment they would really almost be funny. That is why when the phone rang again and it was Lily Snyder asking specifically for her help in a delicate matter at the Lakeview Hotel involving a family member all Margo could do at that particular moment was laugh.

According to Lily there were some expensive audio equipment items missing from the ballroom at the Lakeview. Margo knew exactly what was implied with Lily's use of the term "family member," as it was just last week that her mother-in-law, Lisa, offered to give Casey a second chance (or in his case more like a fourth or fifth chance) and asked him to help her with weekend entertainment planning at her hotel.

Naturally, Margo found it necessary to head straight over to the Lakeview to learn all about the incident. Even though Margo was livid at the thought of Casey being involved in yet another illegal matter she couldn't help but want to be the one to find evidence that might prove him innocent. So, off she went to meet Lily. As she left the station she was dismissed with well wishes of "happy birthday" and "have a nice evening," none knowing the real reason for her departure and she wasn't in any mood to correct them. She simply smiled, thanked them, and exited gracefully.

Lily met Margo in the hotel lobby as she came in. She too was dressed in a lovely evening dress, which caused Margo at once to feel bad.

"I'm sorry Lily," began Margo, "This is obviously interrupting your plans for the evening."

"No, Margo, I'm the one who's sorry here. Gosh, look at you! I must be totally interrupting your evening."

"Well, really not all that much, sadly," returned Margo. "I guess I should be used to it by now, but as is now par for the course, Tom and I have managed to botch dinner plans yet again. I don't know… maybe we should just give up trying."

"Oh Margo, you don't mean that."

"Yeah, maybe I do," Margo went on. "I mean, do you realize that we haven't even eaten more than one meal together in each of the last six weeks. This is ridiculous!"

"We all go through spurts like that," said Lily. "Things will get better. I know they will. You and Tom just need to give yourselves a break."

"Yeah, well, maybe," said Margo, "but you didn't call me here to help bring Tom and I together. We'd better get on with the real matter at hand."

As Margo reached into her handbag for her notepad and pen Lily allowed a thoughtful look to spread across her face, which quickly disappeared as soon as Margo looked back up. Lily then suggested that they head to the ballroom to discuss the matter so she could show her what all had been disturbed.

Lily opened the main doors to the dark ballroom. As they entered Lily offered for Margo to wait while she went to turn on the lights. Margo didn't argue, since she didn't really know her way around and it truly was too dark to see much of anything at all. At the moment Margo was trying to remain level-headed and objective, but she couldn't help but be angered at the possibility of Casey being involved in another theft incident, especially one of property once again belonging to his grandmother. Needless to say she was getting more upset by the minute.

Feeling as she did she never noticed how long it seemed to take for Lily to find the lights. In fact, she was quite startled when she felt a presence suddenly at her back. A sense of panic fell over her as she realized that she had come to meet Lily without back-up or even her own side-arm. This was supposed to be a discrete meeting between mothers, but suddenly something wasn't right.

Just then an unexpected male voice whispered, "Don't move!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Margo felt arms reaching around her waist, but remained stark still. She took a slow, deep breath and closed her eyes.

"You've been lured here under false pretenses Lieutenant Hughes," continued the whispering voice.

"Oh really," responded Margo, remaining calm.

"Yes," he went on, "and I suggest you cooperate fully. Otherwise you'll have to answer to me."

Margo suddenly turned to face the man in the dark, "Yeah," she questioned, "and just how will I do that?"

"Like this," said the voice as he pulled her into a tight embrace, kissing her tenderly on the neck.

"Tom," Margo gasped, "what are you up to?"

"Happy birthday honey," said Tom as he moved his kisses up her neck to her lips. As their kiss deepened the lights came on and Margo was greeted by a loud, "Surprise!" from a room full of excited party guests.

Taken aback, Margo brought her hands to her mouth and looked around to room. She couldn't believe her eyes. The room was filled with family and friends. She truly didn't know how to react. Being the center of attention wasn't exactly a place that Margo felt comfortable.

"What have you done Tom?" Margo asked her smiling husband.

"Who me?"

"Of course you. Don't even try to deny it Thomas Christopher Hughes."

"I… I really haven't done all that much," smiled Tom, "…yet."

He took her hand and led her deliberately to the center of the dance floor at the far end of the room. As they walked Margo attempted to ask what he meant by his last comment, but her attempt was met with Tom's finger being placed gently on her lips and a shake of his head. "Now," he continued, as he pulled her toward him, "we dance."

"Dance?" Margo questioned, "But there isn't any music my darling."

Just as Margo finished her sentence lights came up on the stage area in front of the dance floor and a previously unnoticed pianist began to play a tune that was once very familiar to her. She smiled and looked into Toms eyes as a very familiar voice sang the opening words to a song that once held very special meaning to them…

"_If you say my eyes are beautiful_

_It's because they're looking at you_

_And if you could only see yourself_

_You'd feel the same way too…"_

"Tom," Margo's voice cracked with a slight choke, "Mama? That's Mama! How did you… when did she…?"

"Shhh," Tom whispered, "just let her finish her song and dance with me."

Margo grinned from ear to ear as her eyes welled up. She placed her head on Tom's shoulder and as she closed her eyes a tear ran down her cheek. As they danced she thought to herself… it was their song – the song that always brought them together, no matter how harried or difficult their lives got. He remembered… of course he remembered.

There were no words spoken through the remainder of the song, but Tom knew from the way she held him that he had managed to finally make his wife happier than she'd been in quite a while. As the final verse came to an end Margo lifted her head and looked up at Tom. He saw her intense smile looking up at him and couldn't help but pull her into a long and passionate kiss.

The music had stopped a while back and they were still kissing when Bob Hughes finally made deliberate action of clearing his throat in an attempt to break his son and daughter-in-law's concentration.

"Dad," Tom groaned, "why do you always have to do that?"

"Son, I believe you have guests who'd like to feel like part of the party, if you know what I mean." Several in the crowd chuckled at Bob's response to Tom. Then Bob held out his arms and offered Margo a loud, "Happy birthday kid!"

Margo accepted Bob's robust hug and replied, "Thanks Bob. I just don't know what to say to all this."

"You don't have to say anything," said Bob, "just enjoy it."

"I will. I am! I am enjoying it. It's a bit overwhelming at the moment, but I am enjoying it."

While Margo was responding to birthday greetings and well wishes from Bob and Kim, Tom snuck off to greet Lyla, who had just finished singing and he knew was anxious to see Margo.

"Lyla," greeted Tom, "thank you so much for that! Of course you sounded as lovely as ever."

Lyla hugged her son-in-law and thanked him for his kind words. Then she insisted on heading over to greet her daughter.

"Excuse me Bob… Kim… but you get to see my beautiful daughter all the time," interrupted Lyla as she approached Margo, "I think it's about time I got to give the birthday girl a hug."

"Mama!" Margo exclaimed as she embraced her mother tightly. "Oh mama, I've missed you so much."

The two were quickly joined by Margo's sister Katie, who had been standing by patiently waiting to wish Margo a happy birthday and talk to her mother. Katie had helped keep Tom's secret that Lyla was coming to town, and was very eager to finally let Margo know.

Most of the guests had found their way to tables and Tom was talking with Bob when the room was suddenly met with a raucous disturbance. Through the main ballroom entrance came a loud, booming voice, "I can't believe you people!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

In what can only be described as dramatic flair Paul Ryan entered the ballroom. Undeterred by the gasps and stares by the crowd, he continued to walk straight in muttering, "Of course, sure, why not… crime doesn't matter tonight – it's time for Oakdale's finest to party."

The crowd quieted as Paul continued to make his way into the room. "Is stalking still considered a criminal offense in this town? I mean, I'm just wondering – seems how some people blow up other people in their cars and walk away 'Scot-free' while others seem to get arrested for merely breathing wrong," Paul continued.

"Oh good Lord," muttered Margo to herself while rolling her eyes.

Reacting immediately to Paul's antics, Detective Jack Snyder made his way through the crowd to Paul, "What's the problem Ryan?"

"No, I'm not talking with you," spouted Paul. "I want to talk with an officer that doesn't already have it in for me."

"That's going to be difficult," chuckled Jack.

Noticing the commotion and reacting in her best embarrassed medaling mother fashion Barbara Ryan rushed to her son's side, "Paul, what's this all about? Can we please move out to the lobby to discuss this?"

As senior officer in the room Margo thought she should head over to assist the situation, but she was quickly stopped by Tom, "Honey, please let Jack handle this," he said as he caught her arm brushing past him.

"I just want to try to keep things from escalating out of hand Tom," Margo replied.

"I know sweetie," said Tom, "but this is your night. Just let Jack and the others talk with Paul. I'm sure they can keep things under control."

"You're right," said Margo leaning back against Tom.

Wrapping his arms around Margo's shoulders from behind Tom replied, "I like it when you tell me I'm right."

Margo smiled and tilted her head back toward Tom. She gave a provocative glance his way as he smiled and whispered something into her ear. The two once again managed to create their own sense of solitude despite the crowd and commotion. They were heavily involved in seductive teasing and nuzzling completely able to tune out the ensuing disturbance when yet another uninvited guest barged into the room.

"Paul, I got her! She's…" Emily Stewart's words cut off abruptly as it was clear she had not expected the room to be filled with party guests. "Um… we'll wait out here," she continued, pointing toward the lobby. She pushed an obviously shaken young woman along as she attempted to exit the room.

Like with Paul, Emily's entrance silenced the room. At once Margo rolled her eyes and dropped her head to her hands as if a sudden headache had come over her, Tom let out a grumbling groan, and without realizing her volume Lyla burst out, "Sarah?"

Confused guests volleyed their eyes from Emily to Lyla and then back to Emily. The young woman, startled by Lyla's outburst, stopped and turned back toward the crowd. Caught off guard by her sudden stop Emily walked smack into the young woman and nearly tripped, "Watch where you're going!" Emily spouted in anger.

"Me? You're the one dragging me all these places I don't even want to be," responded the woman.

With the help of Dallas Griffin, Jack finally escorted Paul and the new arrivals out to the Lakeview Hotel lobby while a muffled murmur of questions and comments stirred among the guests. Barbara followed Jack out of the ballroom, as did a couple off duty cops, while inside the ballroom Lily made swift effort of averting guests' attention by making her way to the microphone.

"Good evening everyone," announced Lily. "Let me start out by addressing our guest of honor – Margo, happy birthday."

Margo made eye contact with Lily and gestured a silent, 'I'll be getting you back.'

"We have a nice party lined up with plenty of good food and entertainment," Lily continued. "My apologies for the disturbance – on behalf of the Lakeview Hotel I want to welcome everyone. Once everyone makes their way to their seats our wait staff will begin serving."

As Lily disembarked the stage mingling guests began to make their way to their tables, but the movement was slow and scattered because most people were still curious as to the goings on in the lobby. Even Margo who honestly wanted to enjoy her party was distracted by her mother's outburst. Margo watched as Lyla made her way through the crowd toward the door.

Tom took Margo's hand and said, "I won't let you go… without me." He knew there was no keeping Margo from following Lyla at this point. He looked over at Bob and simply said, "Keep things going in here – we'll be back."

They reached the lobby in time to find Lyla hugging the unknown young woman.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Following directly behind Tom & Margo, Katie nearly bumped into them as they paused to take in the scene. She pardoned herself and walked over toward Lyla, "Mom?" she asked, "Is that really Sarah?"

Margo looked at Katie, then at her mother, and then at Tom who whispered, "Who's Sarah?"

"Got me…" shrugged Margo.

Lyla pulled back from Sarah, but her hands remained on her shoulders, "Wow, you've grown into quite a beautiful young woman. It's been years. I think the last time I saw you, you were on break from college. How's your mom?"

Katie walked over to Sarah and said, "Hey, remember me?"

Her smile seemed hesitant at first, but seemed more genuine as she reached an arm out to Katie.

"Aww, how touching," said Paul in a very sarcastic tone. "Apparently it's 'Old Home Week' here in Oakdale. Too bad I don't have one of Emma's pies to pass around."

"Knock it off Ryan," said Jack.

Paul, acting as if he never heard Jack, continued, "Ah, I hate to break up the reunion, but this girl is a criminal and someone needs to arrest her."

"Arrest her?" questioned a stunned Lyla.

"Wait just a minute," Margo finally interrupted, "what exactly is going on here?"

All the commotion seemed to be Emily's cue to attempt to slink out of the room. She made it as far as the Lounge entrance when Tom lightly tapped her on the shoulder, "Going somewhere?"

Immediately it seemed that everyone had something to say. Paul threw accusations, Lyla defended Sarah, Barbara scolded Jack for his treatment of Paul, Katie threw questions at Sarah, and Emily tried to deny even being involved.

"Silence!" yelled Margo. Everyone in the lobby fell silent, including the desk clerk who was taking a phone message and a couple who were stepping off the elevator. "Thank you," she said, slightly embarrassed, "now Paul you say this woman has committed a crime. Can you please elaborate the details of this crime so that we can all get on with our evening?"

Barbara pursed her lips and gave Emily a piercing glare as Paul began his tale. According to Paul this woman had been lurking outside the grounds at Fairwinds, the large estate where he lived, for a couple of days.

"Explain your definition of lurking, please," requested Margo.

"Well," said Paul., "at first I noticed an empty car sitting outside my property. Being that my nearest neighbors are at least a mile away in either direction it seemed odd to me. I first thought that someone must have had car trouble and since I didn't see anyone I figured they'd gone elsewhere for help. And when the car was gone later in the day I assumed help had been found."

"Can I go now?" asked Emily, who wanted desperately to remove herself from the scene all together.

Margo rolled her eyes, but didn't respond to Emily.

"No," said Paul, "you need to stay. Emily's the only one who can back up my story."

"Naturally," said a disgusted Barbara.

Paul continued, "The next day I noticed the same car in the same spot with this girl (he pointed at Sarah) sitting in the driver's seat staring at my house."

"Something you've undoubtedly been known to do to others, oh fair-haired son of Stenbeck," snidely announced Lucinda Walsh as she approached the assembly. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"Getting others to do his dirty work is more his M.O." remarked Katie under her breath as she glanced over at Emily.

Turning to Emily, Lucinda's snide remarks continued, "Getting all this straight Emily? We wouldn't want to show bias in the press."

"Ok… ok," interrupted Margo, "enough from the Peanut Gallery. Let's get this over with, shall we. Please continue Paul."

"When I walked toward the car she drove off," a smug, but annoyed Paul went on. "But then today I caught her going through my mailbox. Now forgive me if I'm mistaken, but tampering with someone's mail is a crime is it not? Maybe I should contact the Feds."

Jack was about to comment on Paul's "Feds" remark as Margo calmly put her hand out to suggest he refrain. She turned toward Sarah and said, "He does have a legitimate complaint I'm afraid. Is he telling the truth, were you going through his mail?"

"Margo," interrupted Lyla, "I'm sure Sarah has a perfectly logical explanation…"

"Thank you Mama," Margo broke Lyla's support of Sarah mid-sentence, "but she can speak for herself."

It was obvious that Sarah wanted to run but there was no way she could. Making sure not to look anyone in the eye she merely responded, "I'm not sure…"

"Listen," interrupted Paul, "Emily caught her red-handed in my mailbox."

At that Margo peered over at Tom who responded by rolling his eyes and giving an annoyed look. Then he silently mouthed with pleading eyes, "Let Jack finish up here." Just as eager to return to the party Margo gave one last pitch for the truth, "not sure… huh… well maybe a trip to the station with these fine gentlemen can help you clear things up in your mind."

"No, that's not it," responded Sarah, "It's just that I, well, I didn't intend…" her words broke off and she seemed unsure of how to continue.

"Yes?" Margo attempted to keep her thoughts going.

"Well, I think I've made a big mistake," said Sarah. "I don't know who this man is. I was told that someone else owned that house. I was only looking at the mail to see whether or not I was at the right house."

"Oh that makes a difference then," Paul responded rather sarcastically.

"Oh just stop." Margo was noticeably annoyed. Then she turned back to Sarah and continued her questioning, "So you WERE looking at his mail."

"Just looking, I swear," responded Sarah sharply. "I didn't take anything or do anything with it."

Finally able to read the situation more clearly Margo said, "OK, so now that you know Mr. Ryan is the owner of the home do you intend to keep harassing him or any other member of my jurisdiction?"

Sarah looked down at the floor and mumbled, "No."

Margo looked up with a wide grin and happily remarked, "OK then, are we all satisfied? Can we all get back to our evenings?" She clearly was ready to drop the situation without further discussion.

Although Paul wasn't content with the way things had turned out he reluctantly backed down from pursuing things further. Margo gave Sarah a stern warning about keeping her nose clean and staying out of trouble and then told her she was free to go.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was getting late and the party was winding down. The live music had ended and Casey was jockeying tunes in order to keep the room lively. Margo was standing near the center of the room laughing and reminiscing with her friend Jessica Griffin who was happy to finally be back in Oakdale after spending the majority of the last few years as interim dean at her old law school in New York. She had taken the job to be closer to her ailing parents, but now that they had both passed away she was eager to be closer to her daughter and friends once again.

Tom stood near a table at the front of the room talking with Jack. He thanked him for performing his show-stopping Elvis number and for putting together the group of men who performed the sadly off-key, yet wildly entertaining rendition of "The Oldest Established (Crap Game)" featuring the elusive Henry Coleman as the industrious Nathan Detroit from the musical Guys and Dolls. "I can't think of a more appropriate 'character' for that character," said Tom. "I had no idea there would be so much entertainment tonight. I really can't thank you enough."

"Don't thank me," said Jack. "It was your mom and Lily who put the entertainment together."

"I don't know why I'm surprised," said Tom. "My mom never does anything half way."

"Well, I have to hand it to Lisa, she's a hard woman to say no to," said Jack. "Hey, and I'd never heard Margo's mother sing before. She really is quite a talent."

"She'll knock your socks off any day of the week," said a smiling John Dixon as he walked up to the men. John placed a firm hand on Tom's shoulder and said, "I am so glad I drove in for all this. I had no idea that Lyla would be here."

Tom nodded, but he really wasn't listening to John. His attention was all on Margo at the moment. She was smiling at something that Jessica had said. He watched her reach out for Jessica's arm, lean her forehead onto her arm, give Jessica a gentle push and then lift her head toward the ceiling bursting out in laughter from the depths of her soul. She was utterly oblivious to the fact that she was probably the loudest person in the room at the moment. She clapped her hands together and bent over slightly. Jessica, laughing as well, leaned over and whispered something that made both women laugh even harder. Margo wiped at tears beneath both eyes and said something back to Jessica. That's when Tom realized just how long it had been since he'd seen her so completely happy, so unaware of all the family drama that had befallen them in the past few years – Adam's disappearance, Casey's incarceration and more recent suspension from school, his own trials with his heart... She was having the time of her life and Tom couldn't help but be wholly captivated by how sexy she looked at that very moment. He was drinking in every gesture, every subtle movement, absolutely mesmerized by the sparkle in her eyes.

"…Isn't that right Tom? …Tom?"

"Huh?" Tom half-heartedly responded to hearing his name, still concentrating on his wife.

"Have you not heard a word I've said?" asked John.

"Huh?" Tom's attention was broken and he turned toward John, "What? Oh, I'm sorry. What?"

"I was just telling Jack..." John began, "Oh for crying out loud…" his eyes were shifting between Tom and Margo and he caught Margo's face just as she noticed Tom looking at her. As their eyes met she clasped her hands together under her chin and she sent him a kiss through the air. Then just as suddenly she turned her attention back to Jessica.

"What?" Tom asked with a silly grin, his voice cracking slightly.

"Nothing."

"Really John, I'm listening," said Tom with sincerity.

"That doesn't matter, it really was nothing," said John, turning more serious, "I don't want you to think I'm going soft in my old age…" John grabbed a handful of cocktail nuts from a bowl on the table, picked through them and put a cashew in his mouth.

Tom looked at John with curiosity, "You? Never."

"Listen, I realize that I haven't often conveyed this, but I really do know how rare it is to have what you and Margo share. My daughter is truly very lucky." Without looking at Tom, John simply placed another cashew in his mouth.

"Nah, I'm the lucky one, my friend."

"See there," said John, "that's it right there. Considering all that you two have been through, you're still as much in love with her as you were the day you got married."

"More."

"Mmm…" John mumbled as his mouth was full of nuts at the time. He nodded his head and put his hands out in a manner that said, 'I rest my case.'

"John, are you actually telling me that after all these years you're finally admitting out loud that you approve of the fact that I married your daughter?"

"Perhaps," said John as he brushed peanut skins from his hands onto the table, "but if you tell anyone I'll deny it."

The music had ended and most of the guests had said their good-byes. The remainder of the party had gone very smoothly without further disruptions from either invited or non-invited guests. Tom was back by the kitchen entrance talking with Lisa and Margo had been standing near the lobby doors talking to Lyla for quite a while. She and Katie were currently arguing over who Lyla was going to stay with during her visit in Oakdale when John came up to say good-bye. Margo gave him a hug and humored him a little by telling him that she wasn't working too hard when he insisted she take things a little easier than he knew she was. He then stepped over to Lyla, gave her a huge hug and planted a big kiss on her cheek, which caught her slightly off guard.

"Lyla, beautiful as always," said John. "I could settle this argument by offering you a room at my place. That big apartment seems so empty when it's just me rattling around."

Lyla feigned surprise and embarrassment, but really wasn't surprised and didn't read anything into John's offer. She knew that much of what John said was a big bag of wind and kept her responses light-hearted. Margo threw in a few one-liners to keep things light as well. The disjointed "family" chatted cordially for a short while and then John finally excused himself, kissing Margo on the cheek as he headed out.

"Goodnight John," said Margo, "and really, thanks for coming. I hardly get to see you anymore since you've been working on that research project. You need to come home more often."

As John left Tom walked up to the ladies. "So, are we ready?" he asked, looking excitedly at Lyla.

Confused, Margo asked, "Ready for what?"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"I can't believe you," said Margo standing next to a 15 foot tall chain-link fence just outside the hangar where the Worldwide jet was being readied for take-off. "We can't do this right now. I've got way too many cases going and with all Jack has going on with Parker he's in no condition to run the station."

"Will you put that out of your head, it's all been handled," said Tom. "Jack can certainly run things for a while. Besides, he's got Dallas to help him."

Margo seemed to think Tom was pushing it a bit at this point. "Oh, so now you've decided you want to run my police station as a side job."

"No," said Tom calmly as he put his arms around Margo from the side. "Honey, listen, you've already got 3 days off anyway, what's a few more?" Tom was trying his best to keep Margo's mind off her work. He brushed her hair back and placed a tender kiss just below her ear. "After all, your mom went to a lot of trouble giving up her travel points to get these cruise tickets." He continued to nibble at her neck while she stood cross-armed and stiff.

Ignoring Tom's advances, yet at the same time not preventing him from continuing, Margo stubbornly went on, "I left a pile of files on my desk…"

Margo's words were left hanging in midair. Tom had found that one little spot that always rendered her silent. She gasped slightly, tried briefly to protest, but finally gave in with a sigh. Tom pulled her into a passionate kiss. When he released it took her a moment to open her eyes. "Okay," she whispered through a heavy exhale. Tom simply smiled and dropped his head to her shoulder in relief.

Almost immediately Lily approached them to introduce the pilot. After introductions the pilot ran through the flight plan then headed toward the plane. Tom and Margo thanked Lily profusely for offering them the use of the jet, especially at this time of night. They were then escorted out to the plane where they boarded without hesitation.

The plane had been in the air long enough for the pilot to announce that they could remove their seat belts, which Tom did immediately. They were seated in what looked like extremely comfortable living room recliners, yet Tom was eager to get up and move about. He walked directly across the cabin and picked up a bottle of champagne which had been chilling since before they boarded. He filled two flutes about two-thirds full and took them over to the long sofa and sat down.

"Are you going to join me Mrs. Hughes?"

"Well, if you insist," teased Margo

Margo emerged from her seat and crossed over to the sofa. Still dressed in her evening dress she sat carefully, adjusting the skirt so that it lay evenly across her legs. Tom handed her a flute, raised his and said, "Happy birthday honey."

"Thank you," said Margo as she took a sip of her champagne. "Is it still my birthday?"

"Perhaps not technically anymore, but that doesn't matter. I haven't had you all to myself for what seems like ages, so I'm officially extending your birthday at least until we reach our destination."

"I'm okay with that," Margo grinned.

While Margo was talking Tom took a sip of his champagne and then placed the flute down on the ledge behind the sofa. In one fluid motion he leaned in to kiss Margo, removed the flute from her hand, passed it behind her back to his other hand and placed it on the ledge as well. As his first hand was free he placed it gently upon Margo's back. Once his other hand was free he slid his fingertips around her neck and combed them up her scalp resting his palm at the nape. Taking his lead, without breaking their kiss, Margo leaned back against a pillow, allowing Tom to lie partly on top of her with his back against the back of the sofa.

They both let out soft moans as their kiss intensified. Pulling her toward him Tom let his free hand wander, lightly brushing her bare back, down her side and back up. He eased his leg between hers as he began to untie the halter of her dress.

"Tom," Margo whispered, pulling back slightly, "we're on a plane for heaven sake. Lucinda's plane at that."

"So," Tom began placing kisses down her chest, "the only other person… on this plane… is extremely busy at the moment… flying this plane."

"They probably have hidden cameras or something. I wouldn't put that past Lucinda."

Tom laughed, "Relax honey. We have four and a half hours. Think of it as your initiation."

"Initiation?"

"Yeah," Tom said smiling and pulling back to see her reaction, "into the Mile High Club."

To Tom, Margo's reaction was priceless. She attempted a come-back, but was at a total loss for words at that moment. It was obvious she was slightly embarrassed, yet at the same time she wanted to punch him. Since there was no physical way she could at the moment, she settled for wrinkling her nose and giving him a sarcastic look.

* * *

A while later Tom and Margo lay facing each other covered only by a large fleece blanket that Tom had found in an overhead compartment. He was teasing her about secret videos of them popping up on the Internet.

"I think you're the one who needs to worry my dear," said Margo. "I made sure I kept myself carefully concealed beneath you the entire time." She grinned broadly, proud of her own comment.

"Ah, but yours is the face that will be seen sweetie," Tom countered wearing a more sarcastic grin. "I wonder how Lucinda will react when she watches those surveillance videos," he continued with contagious laughter, quickly covering his face with his forearm. "I doubt she's seen such a toned back side in quite a while."

"Well, aren't we Mr. Arrogant at the moment."

"Yeah," Tom mused, "I'll show you how arrogant I am. Come here." He pulled his wife into a tight embrace and began to make love to her for a second time.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Look at this," said Tom, "we've really been missing out all these years." Tom was holding a brochure from a cruise line and showing it to Margo.

They had slept for probably an hour when Margo stirred and nearly slipped off the sofa. Without waking Tom she arose and started going through her suitcase. Her quest was two-fold – first, to find out just exactly what was in there, since the packing was done entirely by Tom, and second, to find something comfortable to put on for the remainder of the flight. To her surprise, he hadn't done that bad of a job. However, she wasn't exactly excited about the footwear he'd selected. She decided her saving grace was the fact that he actually chose to tell her about the trip before leaving the Lakeview, since all her makeup and hair products were in her car and they decided to drive his to the airport and let Lyla borrow hers for her duration in Oakdale.

Currently, she was leaning back against Tom on the sofa and they were eating popcorn and looking at cruise information that Lyla had given them. "Look at all this stuff she gave us," said Margo, "I think there's like twenty pages here that she printed out from their website."

"I know," said Tom, "This is wild! I mean I can't believe we're actually doing this."

"I know."

"You know what else is wild?" Tom asked then went on to answer himself, "Emily dragging that girl into the Lakeview like she did and then finding out that Lyla knows her through her cruise ties."

"Sarah?"

"Yeah, you were going to tell me what more you found out about her."

"It is an odd coincidence to say the least," she said, "and I still don't fully understand what she's doing in Oakdale."

Margo went on to explain her conversation with Lyla and Katie after the incident in the lobby had died down. She told him that Lyla knew Sarah and her mom from way back in her early days singing for the cruise line. She had only agreed to take the job that would keep her for long stretches at a time on board a ship because the cruise line employed a full-time studio teacher. This meant that Katie could remain with her on board the ship, and not miss out on any schooling. The studio teacher that taught Katie during those years was Sarah's mom.

"Mama said that she hadn't seen Sarah or her mom in a number of years. The most she could recall was that more recently she was studying creative writing or something and that she was very quirky," said Margo. "All Katie could say about her was that she was very fun and knew all the best secrets of the ship."

"I'll agree with Lyla that she's definitely quirky," said Tom, "I mean, poking around Fairwinds? What was that about?"

Margo shook her head and turned around to face Tom, "See, that's just it, it doesn't make any sense. She told Mama that she was looking for someone that I'd never heard of – no name I ever recognized as having lived there anyway, and I think I've known everyone that's lived at Fairwinds for at least as long as I've lived in Oakdale. I'm not entirely convinced that she was telling the truth."

"Honey, you're doing it," Tom said with a disappointed glance.

"What?"

"You are off duty Lieutenant."

"Sorry," Margo quickly apologized, "I know… I promised I'd leave all the detective work back in Oakdale didn't I?" She leaned in and gave Tom a quick kiss, "Won't happen again."

After landing in San Diego, Tom and Margo took a cab to Lyla's house. Although their flight took nearly 4 ½ hours, the time change still left them several hours of nightfall. That coupled with the fact that they couldn't board their cruise ship until early afternoon left them with at least ten hours of time on their hands. And, having only slept for about one hour in the last 20 meant that they were both exhausted. Margo actually fell asleep in the cab, and Tom could have if he'd allowed himself to. Once in the house they poured themselves into bed in Lyla's guest room and fell asleep almost instantly.

When they awoke they showered, repacked, tidied up the bathroom and guest room and took another cab to the pier. If truth be told, they were both flabbergasted by the sight of the cruise ship. It was simply gigantic and like nothing they had actually pictured in their minds. They both were absolutely thrilled to take their first steps up the gangway.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After boarding the ship Tom and Margo were shown to their ocean view state room. Being an employee of the cruise line Lyla was able to use her position to arrange for very nice accommodations for them. They quickly unpacked only the necessary things and made their way out to the upper decks to have a look around and hopefully find something to eat.

They soaked in every touristy aspect of cruise fanfare from waving at no one in particular in "bon voyage" when the ship departed to attempting reservations for a meal with the captain. They spent the first evening walking around getting a feel for the layout of the ship so they knew just what they were going to attempt in the next five days. They were happy they had decided against making formal dinner plans for that night, as everywhere they went and everything they did took way longer than they had expected. Instead, they were perfectly pleased with the elaborate buffet when they finally found it and got seated.

By the time they found their way back to their cabin that first night it was 9 PM, which by Oakdale time was actually 11 PM. Not used to being night-owls, they were content to slip away from the night life to the peace and quiet of their own cabin. Heading through the doorway nuzzling Margo's neck Tom simply slipped the "Do Not Disturb" sign from the inside handle to the outside and eased the door shut.

When morning came they were thankful that they had taken the opportunity to pre-order room service for their breakfast. Margo prefers not to attempt to function in any capacity without her morning coffee. By the time she woke Tom had already been up planning their entire day – everything from relaxing pool-side, catching some sun (possibly slipping in the water occasionally) to lunching at the "Grill" to an early live show (which happened to be a fabulous magic show) to dinner in the main dining room, it was all figured and reservations had been made. He had even worked a little time into the afternoon for some "R&R" back in their cabin, but, conveniently, he forgot to mention that to Margo in the morning in order to make it seem more spontaneous at the time. Obviously she knew he'd planned it, because he's just not that spontaneous of a guy when schedules are of concern. But she didn't let on, clearly that would have killed the moment, and why would she do that?

The following morning the ship dropped anchor for their first port of call – Cabo San Lucas, at the Southernmost tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula. After a scary jump onto the rocking tender shuttle they rode into shore about mid-morning and spent the day touring the area on their own. They decided against a guided tour, mainly because they had gone through all the information Lyla had given them and no tour really fit them and what they wanted to do.

They wandered through the tourist area, past all the vendors selling every kind of souvenir you could think of and found an area that seemed to be a little more authentic. Tom did his best to remember what he could of the conversational Spanish he'd learned from his three years of Spanish classes in prep school, which wasn't all that great, but got them by. Luckily, the area they had found was still "touristy" enough that most of the shops had at least one employee who spoke very fluent English.

They lunched at a local taco stand near the beach, where Tom noted that if they ever found themselves living in the touristy Mexican village this would be their new "Al's." However, Margo noted that he needed to keep in mind that just because the tacos were little, they were certainly not a heart-healthy choice, and that he should also keep in mind that they didn't want to spend the next day in bed – well… due to digestive health issues that that is. He kept his meal to three tacos (of course with rice and beans) and some kind of Mexican beer, which he was perfectly contented with – and Margo didn't nag again.

After lunch they strolled the beach and took in a few more local sites before heading back to the tender. Back on board the ship they made their way to their cabin. Exhausted from their excursions and slightly sunburned they dropped their purchases and flopped onto the bed.

"You know," said Margo, "I told you we should have cancelled those reservations for tonight."

"Aw, come on," said Tom in a tired, slightly whiney voice, "we'll be fine. We've still got about an hour before we need to be there."

"I'm in desperate need of a shower, and I'm not sure if my dress ever came back from the cleaning service," Margo said as she stood and stretched.

"It was here when we returned from lunch yesterday. I hung it up," Tom said lazily pointing at the closet from the bed.

"Oh, good," remarked Margo in a slightly chipper tone. Smiling, she headed into the bathroom. A moment later she popped her head back out the door and asked, "You gonna join me?"

"I thought you'd never ask," said Tom bouncing off the bed with renewed energy.

About an hour later they arrived at the main dining room, Margo wearing the dress she'd worn to her birthday celebration and Tom in a basic black tux. Tom gave their names and they were escorted to their table. It was a large round table with settings for eight. Already seated when they arrived were a young couple who Margo quickly learned from small talk were from the Denver, Colorado area on their honeymoon. Next to be seated was a woman who appeared to be slightly older than them with a thick Southern accent and her daughter. They were from Arkansas. The trip was a gift from the daughter to her mother who hadn't taken a trip out of her home state in over 40 years. Last to arrive at the table was a Mr. Owen Longnecker and his female companion, a Miss Carla Beuler.

Mr. Longnecker was an executive with the cruise line and had requested to dine with the Hughes during their first day on the ship. It turned out that he was the man who actually hired Lyla for her first show tour years ago. He was excited to finally meet the wonderful daughter and son-in-law that she always spoke so kindly of.

"Oh, and her younger daughter who used to travel with her for many years," Mr. Longnecker mentioned, "Carrie? Kathy?…"

"Katie," said Margo.

"Sure, Katie," said Mr. Longnecker, "What's that little firecracker up to these days?"

At that Margo quickly pulled her wallet out of her handbag and began showing him pictures - first, was a promotional headshot of Katie that she had taken for her Oakdale Now talk show, next was a photo of Katie and Brad's wedding. Of course being a mother she couldn't help but show pictures of their own children, since they just happened to be in the flip pack.

They turned to the next photo which Mr. Longnecker started pointing at, tapping over and over, "Ahh, umm… I remember… it's coming to me…" he said with a look of determination, "Ladybug!"

Margo and Tom laughed, and Tom leaned over to the young man sitting beside him. Talking behind his hand he was attempting to explain that they were referring to Margo's other sister.

"Cricket," chuckled Margo.

"Right, Cricket," said Longnecker, "I knew it was some kind of insect." The rest of the table guests laughed, realizing it was apparently okay to do so.

Margo had nearly forgotten about that old graduation picture of Cricket in there. She really didn't have a family photo from Cricket that would fit in her wallet, so she had never taken that one out in all these years.

"Wow," said Tom, "you must know Lyla pretty well then if you recognize Cricket."

"Oh, and there was a brother," Longnecker continued in an almost giddy fashion, "Am I right?"

Margo was a little less eager to admit this one, but didn't let it show for long, "Um yes, there's a brother. Craig. His name is Craig."

"Yes, yes, Craig," said Mr. Longnecker, "Not always on Lyla's rave list, as I remember. Oh this is fun."

As dinner wore on the table guests each had opportunities to talk about themselves – what they do for a living, what they've been enjoying on the cruise, etc. Mrs. Starkey, the older woman from Arkansas, was utterly astonished when Margo announced that she was a police lieutenant, "Well, bless yer heart, I just cain't picture it. Ya'll 'r just too darn cute'n precious to see tryin' to arrest someone. That's a hoot."

Margo took the comment in stride. Actually, it sparked quite a table conversation. The poor young groom suddenly wanted to know all about her biggest case and her scariest stake-out and whether she'd ever been shot…

"Good heavens!" responded a startled Mrs. Starkey, "Surely, ya'll don't have a gun at this table, do you dear?"

"Oh, no," said Margo, "I'm strictly off-duty on board this ship." She looked at Tom with a 'Why me?' pleading look. He simply smiled, to which she responded with a wrinkle of her nose and quickly rejoined the table conversation with full composure, no one the wiser.

Thankful to finally have dinner behind them, the Hughes made their way to an upper deck in order to find a quiet spot to watch what remained of the colorful sunset. All dressed up snuggling in a lounge chair they marveled at how bright the stars were in the darkened sky. Tom took Margo's hand, brought it up to his lips, and placed a gentle kiss on the back side. "This is beautiful," he said, "You're beautiful."

"Mm… it's paradise," said Margo.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Tom and Margo didn't emerge from their cabin until mid-afternoon the following day. Tom appeared briefly at the door to accept a room service delivery, but for the most part they remained tucked away in their little cubicle on the sea. It was their day to just relax and let their impulses and possibly their stomachs dictate their schedule – slow and unplanned, not exactly what they are used to.

That afternoon they took a long walk around the ship, ate ice cream, shared a couple exotic drinks, and even played a round of miniature golf (while Tom took every opportunity to help her perfect her swing). Later, while they were lounging by the pool Margo happened to notice a happy couple preparing their two young boys for a swim. She watched the mom diligently lather sunscreen all over them and the dad blow up and adjust arm floaties. She couldn't help but feel a twinge in her heart and a tightening in her throat. It was that indescribable feeling of remembering great joy while at the same time being immersed in guilt and sadness. She couldn't help but think of how wonderful things were when Adam and Casey were little, when they didn't have a care in the world and their toughest decision was whether to wear a Cubs or a Power Rangers t-shirt.

When Tom spotted the family he immediately looked over at Margo. He knew right away what was going through her mind. He knew that she was desperate to know what had happened to her oldest son; that she would give anything to go back to the time before he left town without a trace and do whatever she could to prevent him from leaving. He wrestled with whether to say anything or wait to see if she would. After noticing her trying to secretly wipe a tear from the corner of her eye he got up, walked over, kissed her cheek and rubbed her shoulders from behind. Then he leaned in and whispered, "I know sweetie."

She turned toward Tom and said, "Tom, I just don't understand why he doesn't at least call."

"I know honey," said Tom, "but you said you weren't going to torture yourself anymore."

"It's easy to say that, but I just can't help it," said Margo. "Look at him. Doesn't he look just like Adam did at that age? My little banana… where is he?"

Tom sighed.

"Didn't we always tell him that there was nothing that he couldn't tell us?"

"Yes honey, we did, but…"

"And haven't we always been forgiving with the boys?"

"Sweetie," Tom took Margo's hand, attempting once again to get her mind off of Adam.

"No, Tom," she persisted, "Look at Casey. We could have kicked him out, disowned him after he returned from prison or after he was expelled from school, but we didn't. Maybe if Adam knew that he'd…"

"Margo, stop…" Tom pleaded. She was hiding her face, but Tom knew that she was crying. He sat down beside her and wrapped his arm around her. Leaning his temple against hers he continued, "Honey, please stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault that Adam can't face whatever he's done. Come on, we've been through this and through this."

Margo sighed and wiped her cheeks. Then she stood up and said, "I know I need to stop. I hate it when you get mad at him after I get upset."

"Yeah, I am mad at him. And why shouldn't I be? He's got to know what this is doing to you, to both of us."

"Tom…" Margo pleaded this time.

"Well, it's true," demanded Tom, "he's a coward. I thought I knew him. I thought he had more fight in him – at least he used to."

Suddenly their wonderful, romantic vacation was becoming anything but that right before their eyes. Margo felt guilty for allowing her emotion to show, especially when she knew how Tom would react. Tom was not only angry at Adam, but also at himself for allowing his anger to erupt in front of Margo like that when they had been having such a perfect day. But they both knew that they needed to find their own little ways of getting past this moment in order to go on with their day.

Tom finally stood up and faced Margo. He lifted her chin with his index finger and said, "I'm sorry."

Holding back tears Margo said, "Tom, I'm sorry too. I just can't help my emotions sometimes."

"I know," said Tom, wiping a stray tear from her cheek, "and I shouldn't allow myself to get so upset. You have every right to your feelings."

They were able to get through the moment and find a way to move on. They left the pool area and went on with the rest of their day. Although they both tried very hard not to think about it after that, the conversation still lingered in the back of both of their minds for the remainder of the day. However, neither of them brought the subject of Adam up again.

The following morning brought with it their ship's final port of call. They docked early in Ensenada, a large tourist city about seventy miles South of TiJuana, Mexico. Since the cruise ship would be docking back in San Diego the next morning they wanted to make the most of this day. They made their way off the ship early, planning to find a coffee or pastry shop on the mainland for their breakfast, which wasn't difficult, since there were many popular American fast food places on the main strip.

The highlight of their morning was a horse-drawn buggy tour through downtown Ensenada. After the tour they found some quaint shops and then walked around the marina, playfully picking out which yacht would be theirs if they had one. Near the marina they found a Mexican seafood restaurant with plenty of outdoor seating where they decided to eat lunch.

After they had been seated Tom looked up and thought he recognized the man being seated at the table next to them. He couldn't quite place the face, but he knew he'd seen him before. When he pointed him out to Margo she looked and said, "Oh, you know what, I'm pretty sure that he's the magician from the show the other night. Marvelous Marvolo, or something like that, is that right?" After giving him the once over Tom decided that she was right.

Fairly soon two people showed up to join him. Interestingly enough, they were the honeymooning couple from their dinner with Mr. Longnecker. After they sat down Tom decided to get up and say hello. They talked briefly among themselves. The young man, Brent, introduced the magician to Tom and Margo as his cousin. Brent explained that he and his wife would forever be grateful to him for getting them their trip at an extraordinary deal. Fairly quickly their waitress came by to take their order, so they returned to their seats.

They had a great meal, enjoying the fresh air and scenery. As Tom was asking the waitress for their check there was a sudden commotion over at the magician's table. Looking over, it was clear that Brent was choking. His wife was screaming, and the magician was yelling from across the table, but neither was attempting to help. Immediately, Tom's instincts took over and he rushed over, grabbed him up from his chair by his armpits and thrust his clasped fists into Brent's stomach. Two attempts were all it took and the lodged shrimp made its way up and out.

Margo was now standing beside Tom as he held onto Brent making sure that he was okay. Brent's wife, Sidney, was overcome by the ordeal and was finding it difficult to stand. Margo pulled her chair back up to her, as in her panic to get up it had tipped over. Things calmed down rather quickly and Brent was able to talk right away. He didn't quite know what to say, so he just kept saying, "Thank you, thank you."

Sidney was sobbing softly with her face in her hands, so Margo asked her if she was okay. She nodded, but that was about all she could do. The magician had been frantically pacing around the tables, but was now finally calming down. Tom helped Brent back into his chair saying, "I'm just glad I was here and could help." After it was apparent that everyone was calming down, Tom and Margo made their way back to their table. They kept a close watch, but felt more comfortable doing so from their table instead of hovering at the other table.

Finally, after a reasonable amount of time the Hughes decided they should go. When they got up from their table Brent stood and thanked Tom one last time and then they left. Tom's adrenalin was still running high and he found it difficult not to talk about the incident while they walked. Margo understood. She was also wound up, but not as much as Tom.

They decided to make their way back to the ship around 2 PM. The ship was set to depart at 4 PM and they didn't want to be caught in a long line of passengers waiting to board. They made their way up the gangplank and Tom slid his room card into the electronic card reader. He pulled it out and went to slide Margo's when he noticed that his hadn't been read properly, so he slid his again. That's when the attendant asked them to step aside with her.

"Sir," said the attendant, "I'm afraid there's a problem with your card."

"Oh," said Tom, "I've got my wife's card here. I was just going to try that one."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," she said. "Your card isn't working because it has expired. We cannot allow you to board."

"Well that's impossible," said Margo. "Here," she took her card, showed her that the picture on it was her and handed it to the attendant.

"This card has expired also ma'am."

"What?" Margo asked.

She and Tom looked at each other in confusion and disbelief.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Wait, wait, wait!" insisted Tom as the ship's boarding attendant began to radio security.

"Sir, please stand back," said the slightly nervous attendant.

"Honey, let's just allow her to do her job," said Margo. She attempted to calm him by rubbing his arm and smiling. "Why don't we just wait over here and then I'm sure we can get this all straightened out." Margo wasn't used to being the calming factor between them, but for some reason she didn't seem all that concerned at the moment.

When the security officer stepped through the gangway the attendant pointed him in their direction. He walked up to them and asked if there was a problem.

"No problem," said Tom, somewhat calmly, but still obviously agitated, "we'd just like to be able to get back to our cabin."

"Can I see your boarding cards please?" asked the officer. After receiving both cards the officer asked them to follow him to a table just inside the ship where he then asked them to have a seat. He typed something into the computer that was on the table and then asked them kindly if they would each present an alternate form of I.D.

Tom reached to retrieve his wallet from his back pocket while Margo began digging through the rather large and colorful canvas beach bag she had been carrying around town the entire day. When Tom opened his wallet he noticed that his driver's license was missing.

"Hey!" he announced to no one in particular, "What's going on here?"

Margo finally pulled out her wallet and immediately realized they were in more trouble than they had imagined. Not only was her license missing, but her police shield and I.D. were gone as well.

Leaning back in her chair she began replaying the day in her head. 'Yup,' she thought, 'I remember putting it all in the bag this morning.'

Tom recognized the look of concentration on his wife's face and questioned her, "Honey, what's the matter? …Margo?"

"What?" Margo suddenly came back to the present, "Tom, my shield is gone! – my license, my I.D., everything… gone!"

"What the hell?"

What transpired after that was unlike anything they'd expected or had ever experienced. First, they were told that the boarding cards they were supposedly "attempting" to use were from a cruise dated from the previous September. When they asked to have their names looked up on the current passenger list there was no record of them having been on the list.

"Come on," said an exasperated Tom, "we've got personal possessions on board this ship. I may not be as well-versed in International Laws governing this area as I'd like, but we should at least be able to be escorted back to our cabin to retrieve our things."

"Sir, I don't know what you're trying to pull here," said the annoyed officer, "but the people in that cabin reboarded the ship several hours ago. I need you to leave the ship or I will have you escorted off."

Tom wasn't about to give up, but Margo was getting continually more uneasy. She was certain that they were pawns in an elaborate ruse. While Tom was arguing she made note of several people who had been lingering around the area the entire time they were detained. Every instinct inside her told her to grab Tom and make a hasty exit, but he wasn't catching on to her hints. She felt extremely vulnerable.

Suddenly, one of the men who had been loitering just past the security tables talking on a cell phone walked back through the gangway and off the ship. Unfortunately, she wasn't exactly discrete when she watched him leave, and at that moment she was certain that the other two on-lookers knew she was on to them as well. She had no time to react, however, since at that very moment two police officers approached them.

The officers insisted that Tom and Margo exit the ship and come with them. Margo's adrenaline level was reaching a new height, and she needed desperately to convey her thoughts to Tom. No longer trying to be discrete, she grabbed Tom's arm and leaned in toward his ear.

"We need to leave NOW!" she whispered with strong conviction.

"Huh?" asked Tom, turning just in time to see a man across the room (one that Margo had been watching) reach inside his jacket. Realizing that it was unseasonably out of place for the man to be wearing a jacket he deduced that the man could quite possibly be reaching for a gun.

Tom grabbed his wife's hand and they took off running down the gangplank, through the crowd of passengers waiting to reboard the ship and down the pier toward town. Once they got part way up the pier they stopped briefly to look back. Their instincts were right on, as they saw the man in the jacket and the man Margo had seen talking on the cell phone attempting to get through the growing mass of passengers looking right at them and running toward them.

They turned back toward town and ran again. As if they were working off a single mind, they both instinctively ran toward a crowded market area. They knew that in order to lose these two they had to get lost in the crowd. They made their way through the shoppers and then ducked inside a clothing store. They watched through the window from behind a clothing rack. The man in the jacket went by and never noticed them. They decided to try to make their way through the store and found a back entrance. They snuck their way out and looked around.

"What now?" asked Margo through heavy breaths.

"Now, I need to catch my breath," said Tom, panting as well.

"I know, me too," Margo replied, watching Tom lean against the building. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," answered Tom, "just a little out of breath."

"No chest pains?"

"No, I'm fine. Really."

"Are you sure?"

"Margo," Tom said with slight annoyance in his voice, "I'm fine. I run three days a week - granted not that fast typically, but still."

"Sorry honey. Can you allow me to worry about you?"

Tom stepped forward, grabbed hold of Margo and hugged her tightly. "Of course you're allowed. I wouldn't have it any other way," he said. "Honey, I'm so thankful we made it out of there and that you're alright."

They stood there holding one another for a short while, allowing their anxiety to calm. Then they discussed their next move.

* * *

It was about 5 PM and Tom and Margo were sitting in a booth at the local McDonald's restaurant. The ship had pulled away from the pier at about 4:10 PM without them on board. They had gone through both their wallets and everything in Margo's bag. Both of their passports were missing, but they were thankful that none of their money or credit cards had been taken and Margo's cell phone still held a good charge. Tom's phone was down to one bar of battery strength and since both of their chargers were back on the ship they had no means of charging either at the moment.

Margo had already phoned Jack back at the station to fill him in on their situation and had sent a text message to Casey. She was waiting for a response from Casey while Tom talked with his friend Jason Benedict, who worked for the Commission on Crime in Washington, D.C. He figured that the combination of their missing passports and I.D's would create massive problems once they reach the U.S. boarder, so he was working on easing that confusion.

Margo's phone rang just as Tom hung up with Jason. Since they were outside of the U.S. the display didn't reveal the number that was calling. Slightly nervous, Margo answered, "Hello?"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Margo?" To Margo's relief the voice on the other end of the phone was Lyla.

"Mama! Oh, thank goodness."

"Margo, are you and Tom alright?" asked Lyla, "I was shopping with Katie when she got a call from Brad saying that you were stranded in Mexico."

"Stranded… that's a word," said Margo.

"What?" asked Lyla.

Margo hadn't intended to be so flippant, but at the moment she figured that being sarcastic beat crying. At first she kept her emotions up beat and casual with Lyla. The last thing Margo ever wanted to do was show fear or uncertainty in front of people. Tom was typically the only person who Margo let see her vulnerabilities. However, this was Lyla, her mother, the only other person in the world who could read right through Margo's smoke screens. The moment Margo started making fun of their situation she knew that there was more to the story than someone with slippery fingers lifting their passports. It was just something in her voice that told Lyla that she should be worried.

"Margo, what's really going on?" asked Lyla.

"What do you mean?" asked Margo.

"I mean I know you're not telling me the whole story," Lyla said. "You're worried or nervous or both. I can sense it."

"Mama, why do you always over-react to things?"

"I'm not over-reacting," Lyla insisted, "I know you. I know there's more to this story and I want you to tell me what it is. You know I won't sleep either way, so you might as well tell me the truth."

Margo didn't want to waste too many more minutes arguing with her mother, because she really wanted to conserve her cell phone battery. When she knew there was no use hiding the truth she told her about the men who chased them. She also admitted that they hadn't simply missed their ship's departure because they were trying to report their theft. She told them everything they went through trying to reboard. Lyla was stunned.

Lyla wondered if she thought anyone was secretly still watching them, but Margo told her that both she and Tom were certain that for the moment they were safe.

"Where are you going to stay for the night?" asked Lyla.

"Well," said Margo, "that's the $64,000 question at the moment. At this point we're not exactly sure if we want to risk checking in somewhere local. We just don't know who is after us or why. Not only that, but we're not even sure that we want to risk using a credit card at this point. We just don't know what they know about us or what they're tracking. It's creapy."

"Creapy? Margo, it's scary!" said Lyla. "I'm worried about you two."

"Mama, don't worry. We're fine. We're safe. Actually, right now we're in a very crowded, very public McDonald's restaurant. I don't think anyone is going to try anything here."

"Margo, do you remember me telling you about Sarah and her mother Marlene?" asked Lyla.

"Sarah? You mean the girl who showed up at my party the other night - that Sarah?"

That was exactly who Lyla meant. Margo was confused as to why Lyla would mention her at that moment, but Lyla went on to explain that since Marlene quit working for the cruise line she had been running a women and family Christian shelter and adoption center in a remote area near Ensenada. She was certain that if Tom and Margo could get to Marlene's shelter that she could at least offer them a place to stay for the night and more than likely help them with getting back to the boarder once their identification issues had been settled. Lyla had one of Marlene's cards on her and gave the address and phone number to Margo before they hung up.

When Margo relayed her conversation with Lyla to Tom he first was shocked at the coincidence in the situation once again. "You mean not only is this lady associated with our cruise ship, but she also lives near a town where we just so happen to be stranded?" asked Tom.

"I know, it's very ironic," said Margo.

"Ironic, but still very convenient," said Tom. "I mean, I think it's like karma or something."

"So you think we should find this shelter, this San Gabriel Centro de la Mujer y el Niño?"

"I don't know. Perhaps it would be a better option than trying to rent a motel room around here tonight," said Tom.

* * *

The taxi pulled up to the old ragged building near an even older, even more dilapidated, yet uniquely beautiful old church at about 6:30 PM. Tom paid the driver and he and Margo stepped inside the arched entrance to the St. Gabriel Center for Women and Children (San Gabriel Centro de la Mujer y el Niño). The room was dark and the floor was stone, and although there were no screens or any glass in the windows the air was stale, as there was absolutely no breeze blowing outside to freshen the stagnate atmosphere inside. A young Mexican woman was sitting in an old wooden chair knitting. She noticed them immediately as they walked in and stood up.

"¿Cómo puedo ayudarle?" asked the girl.

Margo looked at Tom, hoping that he was able to interpret what she had said.

"¿Habla Inglés?" asked Tom, hoping that she spoke at least some English.

"Some, un poco," said the girl.

"Mi nombre es Tom Hughes," said Tom, in a very American accent, "esta es mi esposa Margo Hughes." He spoke very slowly, continuing, "We are looking for a woman named Marlene Watts. Is she here?"

"Señora Marlene?" asked the girl, "tú request Señora Marlene?"

"Yes… sí," said Tom. "Can we see her?"

"Sí, I get her." The girl walked through a doorway, down a dark hall and out of sight.

"Gracias," said Tom as she walked out of sight.

A few moments later a woman walked into the room where Tom and Margo were waiting. She was a small woman and appeared to be younger than the two of them, but very worn and weary. When she looked up and noticed Tom and Margo she reacted as if she didn't expect to see them standing there.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Ms. Watts?" Tom asked, unsure if that was who she was.

"And you are?" the woman responded, showing little to no sign of hospitality.

"My name is Tom Hughes and this is my wife, Margo," said Tom. "My mother-in-law, Lyla Peretti, gave us this address and suggested that perhaps you could help us."

Still remaining emotionless, the woman probed for more specifics of their visit by asking, "Help you?"

Confused that there was no reaction to the mention of Lyla's name Tom explained, "Well, ah… see, we were vacationing on a cruise down the Baja peninsula and we ran into some difficulties during our stop in Ensenada, which caused us to miss the ship when it departed. So, unfortunately we are stranded for now."

Sensing that the woman was very uneasy Margo decided to intervene. Looking first at Tom then at the woman she said, "We're terribly sorry to disturb you. You must be very busy here tonight. It's just that we were hoping to find a place where we could possibly stay, briefly of course, in order to figure out what we need to do in order to get back to the U.S. See, at some point today our passports and I.D's were stolen, and of course that made for some difficulties getting back on board the ship."

"Stolen?" asked the woman, slightly more interested.

"Yes," continued Margo, "and when I called my mother today she told us that her friend Marlene Watts ran this center and could possibly help us out for a night."

"Lyla is your mother?"

"Yes," said Margo, "She spoke very kindly of Ms. Watts."

"I'm sorry," said the woman, becoming a little friendlier, "I am Marlene Watts."

Margo and Tom looked at each other with puzzled expressions and then Margo said, "Oh, we weren't sure."

"I apologize for being so evasive," said Marlene, "but I have to be very protective of my guests. I'm sure you can understand the risks we face here. Many of the women who come to our door are escaping very disastrous circumstances."

Speaking at once Margo replied, "Oh, of course we understand," while Tom responded with, "Absolutely."

Almost immediately Marlene's tone became very friendly and warm toward them. They quickly struck up a conversation about their trip, explaining their bizarre situation carefully. So as not to alarm her they told her nothing about the men who had chased them. When Margo mentioned meeting her daughter she was greatly surprised. She had no idea that Sarah had traveled to Oakdale and could not think of any motive she would have for going there.

As their conversation wound down Marlene offered them a room for the night. She said it wasn't much, but it was clean and was one of only two rooms at the center that offered a private bathroom. Because this was a shelter for abused women and children most of the guests were housed in an area of the facility that shared a community bathroom. It was unusual for a man to need accommodations at their facility, however they did offer those two rooms for such purposes. Marlene asked the young girl who had greeted them when they arrived at the center to show them to their room and told them that she would check in on them later in the evening.

The housing facilities were held in a separate structure behind the main building. This building was considerably newer and much more modern. Their room was small, but cozy. Although the building was new the furnishings appeared to be much older, most likely donations from charitable organizations and such. Tom and Margo were exhausted. When Marlene finally left them alone in their room Tom locked the door and flopped down on the bed. The bed was definitely smaller than they were used to, and the mattress had an obvious sag in the middle, but they weren't going to complain. At least they had a quiet place to stay and they knew they were safe because no one had followed them down the winding roads that led them there.

It was extremely hot and humid and the air in their room wasn't much fresher than in the main building. The window was open and Margo was happy that there was at least a screen in this one. She wasn't exactly keen on the idea of large Mexican bugs freely roaming in and out of their room while they slept. As it was, she had already poked around looking for cockroaches and other unsightly creatures before deciding to try to relax. She was coming to terms with the fact that her only change of clothes was her bathing suit and decided that it would be best to hang her top and skirt up for the night rather than sleep in them.

Tom had already stripped off his clothes, leaving them in a heap on the floor for Margo to find as she neared the bed. His shirt was ringing wet with sweat, so she took it into the bathroom and rinsed it out. She figured that it couldn't be any wetter than it already was, and at least this way it would be a little cleaner. She just hoped it would be able to dry a little by morning. She had rung the shirt out as much as she could and was trying to shake the wrinkles out when Tom stepped up behind her.

"Mmm…" he sighed as he nuzzled the back of her neck, "I can't believe you're washing out my shirt when it's going to be just as sweaty an hour after I put it on in the morning."

Margo had an urge to roll the shirt back up and swat him with it, but he grabbed it before she could. "At least it will be fresher than it is now," she responded. Pushing him away slightly with her elbow she continued, "which, by the way, you are about as far from fresh as it gets right now."

"Aw, honey, I thought you loved getting me all hot and sweaty," replied Tom.

Margo smirked slightly, but continued to ignore his advances. She hung his shirt up on the shower rod and walked back into the bedroom saying, "Tom, aren't you the slightest bit concerned that someone is out there running around with our I.D's and passports."

"Yeah, a little," said Tom, a bit dejected, "but I think we've done all that we can for now to keep ourselves and our personal information safe. I mean between Jason and I all the appropriate agencies have been notified, including the bank. I don't think anyone is going to try to pass themselves off as us and be able to get away with it."

"I just don't like it, that's all," said Margo, "And besides, with Casey being back at the house all alone and everything…"

"Do you really think he's alone?"

"Did you really have to say that?" asked Margo, cringing at the thought. "I mean I know he's not a little kid anymore, but come on. There are some things I would rather pretend to be ignorant about."

Tom chuckled, but realized he shouldn't push it. "Sorry sweetie," he said with sincerity, "Anyway, Jack said he'd send patrol cars by the house throughout the night. I think he'll be fine."

"I'm glad you're so confident," said Margo, her voice breaking slightly.

Tom watched her turn away, attempting to hide the fact that her emotions had finally gotten the better of her. He knew he needed to do whatever he could to prevent her from getting too emotional over the events of the day. If she were to get going he might just follow her and that wouldn't be good. So he took her hand and brought it to his lips and wiped a tear from her cheek with his other hand.

"I know you're worried," Tom said softly. "I don't mean to make light of all that's gone on, not with you."

"You're not. I think I'm just tired and I've got sunscreen in my eyes and a layer of scum all over me and I was looking forward to one more beautiful night with you on that stupid ship and…" That did it. Margo finally got to that point of no return. The exhaustion had kicked in and the tears started flowing.

Tom wrapped his arms around his wife. He couldn't help but notice the overwhelming scent of sunscreen. Her skin was smooth and glistening with droplets of perspiration. He rubbed his hands over her back and began kneading her tight muscles.

"You know what you need right now?" asked Tom.

"A glass of wine and an air conditioner," responded Margo through her tears with a sarcastic laugh.

Tom chuckled, and then said, "You need a nice cool bath. I'm going to run you a bath and then take Marlene at her word that we can raid the kitchen and see if I can't scare us up something to drink and perhaps some fruit or something."

* * *

Sometime later Tom and Margo emerged from the bathroom with wet hair. They were both wrapped in towels and smiling. Tom was holding a bunch of red grapes that were partially gone and Margo brought with her their bottles of water. They were smiling and kissing playfully when they heard a noise outside their window. They didn't pay much attention until they heard a familiar word… "Hughes."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Shh…" said Margo.

"Who is that?" asked Tom quietly.

Tom went to look out the window, but Margo caught his arm, "Wait," she said, "The bathroom light is on." It was dark outside and she didn't want to chance being seen spying out the window, so she went to turn it off.

Tom remained near the window listening. He could hear a male voice saying, "What are they doing here?"

All Tom could make out of a whispering woman's voice was, "…stranded."

By then Margo had turned off the bathroom light. Since the window was high on the wall Tom had pulled a chair over beneath it in order to look out. He stood in the chair and offered a hand to Margo.

A dark sedan was parked outside in the gravel drive. A single light pole cast an orange glow on the area. The U-shaped position of the buildings created an amplified echo between the housing unit, the main building, and the old carriage house on the other side of the drive.

They recognized Marlene Watts right away as being the female voice Tom had heard. The man that she was talking to was the jacketed man who had chased them from the ship earlier in the day. When Margo recognized him she grabbed Tom.

"Tom!" she whispered with a start.

"Shh," said Tom. He put an arm around Margo and they both concentrated on listening to the ongoing conversation outside.

The man continued, "My boss is very upset that they got away today. And he's not at all happy with you."

"I know," said Marlene. "Does he have any idea that you've been helping me?"

"Are you kidding?" remarked the man. "Do you think I'd be standing here if he did?"

"Are you going to tell him that they're staying here?" asked Marlene.

"Are you positive they don't know anything?"

"They don't seem to," Marlene answered. "I mean I genuinely think all they want is to be able to get back home. That's all."

Tom and Margo were extremely curious, but growing more and more confused and concerned. Margo stepped down from the chair and Tom asked, "What are you doing?"

"Tom, I really don't want to get caught or have to try to make a run for it wearing nothing but a towel," said Margo.

Tom stayed put and continued to listen.

The man was pacing the lot and kicked at a large stone. "I don't understand what the point was in stirring this all up. I mean why draw attention by screwing with the Hughes?" he said.

"So are you going to say anything?" Marlene quizzed again.

"I guess I don't see the point if you really think they're clueless."

Just then another car pulled up. Both Marlene and the man stepped back toward the carriage house. After the engine stopped a young man emerged from the car. Tom was shocked to see that this man was Brent, the man who he had saved from choking earlier in the day.

"Margo!" Tom whispered with intensity as he gestured with his finger to come back to the window.

By now she was dressed and she had hastily combed through her hair. "What?" she asked.

This time Tom waved his whole hand, summoning her to him.

When she got back up in the chair and looked out she was stunned. "Brent?" she mouthed in surprise. "What the…?"

Tom put his finger to his lips and pointed out the window, suggesting they just keep listening.

Brent walked up to the other man and began throwing questions in an angry tone, "Well, are they here? Does she know anything? Have you found the boy?"

The man stood calmly and said, "Nothing's happening here."

"Where's the boy?" Brent sternly asked Marlene.

"I already told you he's not here," she said.

"You do realize who you're dealing with don't you?" said Brent.

"He doesn't scare me," said Marlene, "I've dealt with him for years. You tell him that if he wants to talk to me he can do it in person like he always used to."

"What about those Hughes people?" asked Brent.

"Huge people?" asked Marlene, acting as if she didn't hear him clearly.

Brent looked at the other man and said, "Are they here?" Did you look around?"

The man responded, "Nobody's here. She said she hasn't seen anyone come around here for days."

"Did you check?" Brent asked again.

The other man said, "I went through the building. The only people here are her employee, Alicia, and one other woman – the same ones who were here the last time."

"And the boy?" asked Brent.

Marlene stepped forward and said, "I've already told you, he's not here."

"Where is he?"

"Somewhere where you and your men can't find him," said Marlene.

"You better produce him or I will be forced to handle things around here," said Brent.

"Handle things?" asked Marlene.

"It's either him or you."

"Him or me?"

"Either you produce the boy or I will be forced to take you to the boss," said Brent.

Without hesitation or fear Marlene emphatically said, "Then I guess it's me."

The other man stepped toward Brent with a stunned look saying, "Wait! You mean the boss is nearby?"

"Close enough," said Brent.

The man seemed nervous, but didn't say anything more.

Tom and Margo witnessed Brent bind Marlene's hands behind her back and shove her into the passenger seat of his car. He told the other man to make sure she didn't get out while he moved around to the driver's side. Once inside he started the engine and drove off. The other man made his way over to his car, but kept an eye on Brent's car the entire time. When he got to his car he took a moment to look around. Tom was certain that for a brief moment the man looked directly into his eyes, but then he got into his car and drove off.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The next hour ticked away slowly as each minute seemed endless. Margo and Tom debated every move – stay in their room, survey the area, find Alicia, leave the facility on foot, try to sleep, stand guard… each option had its risks.

"Well, I guess we know who helped themselves to our I.D's," said Margo.

"Was that entire choking incident just a big fat scam?"

"It would appear so," said Margo looking as if deep in thought. "That magician must be extremely talented in sleight of hand. While you were giving that man the Heimlich he was lifting our stuff."

"I can't believe I fell for it," Tom lamented. " I remember I was getting ready to pay the bill and then I got so flustered by the incident that I just left my wallet sitting there on the table when I got up to help that man. What are the odds that his name isn't even Brent? I'm the world's biggest chump."

"Tom," Margo said while turning his face toward hers, "You are the most selfless person I know. You can't let a bunch of scam artists make you feel guilty for being a compassionate human being."

"I know honey." Tom reached out and embraced his wife. He kissed her gently on the side of her head and stroked her hair gently. "I'm just so damn mad that we didn't see this coming. I feel like an idiot."

"I feel cheated and used, but more than that I'm angry," said Margo.

Margo grew more and more worried about Alicia and the other woman's safety. They had not met the other woman, in fact they didn't even know anyone else was staying at the center, but her presence was confirmed when they finally ventured out of their room to find Alicia.

Alicia was in her living quarters, which were located near the kitchen. They explained to her what they had seen and heard outside their room and she was very concerned for Marlene. Tom wanted to try to find out anything he could from her. He figured that Alicia might know something that could help Marlene in some way, so he started asking questions. At first Alicia was very open and able to talk, but once Tom started asking questions about the boy that Brent asked about she shut down. At times she acted as if she didn't even understand what Tom was saying. Tom attempted to refine his questions, but he quickly learned that she simply refused to discuss the matter. Margo attempted to reengage her in conversation, but by then she refused to discuss anything. It was obvious to both Tom and Margo at this point that there were things she knew, but was purposely keeping to herself, completely unwilling to cooperate with them.

"I really don't want to have to do this, but I think we need to contact the police," said Tom, "I don't think we can wait on this."

"Policía?" Alicia asked as her eyes grew wide, "No llame a la policía! No policía!"

"No police?" asked Tom. "A crime has been committed. In America we contact the police when crimes are committed."

"Señora Marlene say no policía. No policía, Señor Hughes, no policía!" Alicia clearly understood Tom at this point and clearly was against him calling the police. She was almost in tears.

"Ok, ok," said Margo, "no police. We won't call the police." Privately, to Tom she whispered, "We don't really need to draw attention to ourselves here either, but what are we going to do?"

Alicia seemed relieved by Margo's words. She relaxed slightly, until Margo started her round of questions.

"Alicia," Margo began, "if we aren't to call the police we are going to need a little more information from you about what's going on. Obviously Marlene is involved in something dangerous here."

Alicia didn't respond, so Tom took the opportunity to make sure she understood what Margo was trying to convey, "We need more information – Necesita información, if you don't want us to call the police."

"I must discuss with Señorita Sarah. She know what to do. She give información." Alicia was very clear that she was not going to discuss anything more until she spoke with Sarah.

"Do you know how to contact Sarah?" asked Margo. "Can you phone Sarah?"

"She call each day," said Alicia. "I wait for her. She know what to do." Alicia just kept nodding at this point, as if she was convincing herself that this was the right thing to do.

Tom and Margo weren't sure that this was the right way to handle the situation, but at this point they figured they had no choice. They were extremely unsure of what they had stumbled upon and were in no condition to convey anything to the police without knowing more, especially since they didn't exactly trust the police regarding their own situation.

Although she was reluctant to discuss Marlene's situation, Margo's gentle persistence allowed Alicia to open up a little about the other woman staying at the facility. They learned that she was a young pregnant girl who was basically homeless and had no source of income. She spoke no English and appeared to be in her late teens. Alicia told Margo that her name was Maria and she had been staying at the shelter for about two months. And, although at times it was difficult for both Margo and Tom to interpret Alicia's words they were able to determine that the girl greatly feared the father of her child finding out about her pregnancy.

After exhausting their efforts with Alicia, Tom and Margo finally decided to go back to their room and try to get some rest for the remainder of the night. Neither of them got much, if any, actual sleep. Between the unbearable humidity, constant anxiety, and being startled by every noise they heard their night was far from restful.

* * *

Tom awoke with a start when the thunderous sound of a large diesel truck roared outside his window. His panic grew as he soon realized Margo wasn't in the room. Then, when he moved to get out of bed a small slip of paper slid from her pillow to the floor. It was a note from Margo that read,

"Tom, I thought at least one of us deserved to sleep, and you looked so peaceful lying there. I am going to the kitchen. Hopefully I can find some coffee! XOXOX – Margo"

Tom found Margo sitting with Maria and Alicia at the dining table laughing and sharing stories. Alicia was happily interpreting the conversation between Maria and Margo, since neither spoke the other's language. When he entered the room Tom cleared his throat to alert the women of this presence.

"Oh, Tom, you're up. I'm glad you were finally able to get some rest," said Margo as she rose to kiss him.

"Good morning," he said to her while giving her hand a squeeze. "I heard a large truck outside and wanted to check on everyone," said Tom. "I assume from the giggling that everything is alright."

"Oh, Señor Hughes sir, we have delivery of food and supplies," said a nervous Alicia. "Sorry it wake you."

"No, no, don't be silly," said Tom waving off her worry, "I need to be up. We've got a lot to figure out and do today."

Alicia still rose quickly and began busily setting fresh fruit and other food items on the table.

Margo got up and went over to her. "Alicia, please sit down," she insisted. "We can get our own breakfast."

"I keep busy señora," said Alicia, not looking up.

"Please," implored Tom, "please relax. I'm not going to ask you any questions this morning. I promise."

All four in the kitchen eventually settled into a nice breakfast. The conversation centered mainly on the unbearable heat and humidity and how Maria was getting along in her pregnancy. Tom attempted to converse with Maria in Spanish, and with Alicia's help he was slowly remembering more and more and doing a better job articulating his words.

After breakfast Tom offered to help stock and inventory the delivery that had arrived that morning. While he was busy in the pantry Margo and Alicia worked on cleaning up the kitchen. The ladies were talking and laughing when suddenly they heard an excited female voice from the back hallway.

"Mom! Mom!" said the voice still outside of the kitchen, "I did it! I found her. But you're not going to believe it, she's in Switzerland and she's…"

The voice stopped cold as she came face to face with Margo who had just emerged from behind a cabinet door. It was Sarah, Marlene's daughter, and she looked extremely startled.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Oh –" Sarah stood there with her mouth open in understandable shock.

"In a coma?" Margo asked with an arrogant grin.

"What?" asked Sarah in shocked confusion.

"Just trying to help you find the words you seem to have lost," said Margo with inquisitively wide eyes.

"How – w-why would you say that?" Sarah looked stunned.

"My dear, I'm a detective," smiled Margo. "That's what I do. And the last time I saw you I believe we were all so curious as to why you had such an interest in Fairwinds."

"Fairwinds?"

"Fairwinds – Paul Ryan's estate."

"Oh."

"Yes," continued Margo, "and something tells me that you just might be talking about the previous owner."

"I told you who I was looking for," responded Sarah with suddenly gained composure.

"Yes, but that was just to throw me off track, now wasn't it?" Margo asked with a smug wrinkle of her nose.

Sarah didn't respond.

Just then Tom walked in from the pantry. "Alicia, I've apparently come to a stopping point." Tom hesitated as he noticed Sarah. "Oh, hello."

Sarah nodded her head slightly in acknowledgement, but said nothing.

Margo and Tom shared questioning glances and then Margo broke the silence, "Listen Sarah, actually we need to talk to you about something."

"You came all the way down here to talk to me?"

"Well no, we didn't, but the reason we're here is beside the point," said Margo. "Can we sit down? Please?" Margo looked to Tom for support, regretting her interrogative nature in her initial exchange with Sarah.

"Sarah, it's really important," said Tom. "We have some news about your mom.

"My mom?"

Alicia, who didn't quite know how to react to Margo's sudden cop-like attitude, whispered something in Spanish to Sarah and gave her a pleading look.

Reluctantly, Sarah stepped closer, "Okay, I'm listening."

Alicia sat next to Sarah as the Hughes explained what they'd witnessed happen to her mother. It seemed that Alicia was seeking just as much comfort as she was attempting to give as she sat there holding Sarah's arm. Sarah showed less emotion, remaining calm and matter-of-fact with her questions.

"What does this Brent guy look like?" asked Sarah.

"He's young – mid-twenties I'd say – short, sandy-brown hair, not quite six foot, thin, but muscular," Margo said in a very cop-like manner.

"Does he have a scar over his left eyebrow, like ¾ of an inch or so?"

"Yes," said Tom. He almost sounded excited. "You know this guy?"

"Unfortunately."

"So your mom's had trouble with him before?"

"That's all he is – Trouble!"

Margo leaned in with deep interest. "So then you must know who he works for and what his interest is in your mom."

"I can't tell you that," said Sarah as she leaned back a little in her chair.

"Can't or won't?" asked Margo.

"Sarah," Tom interjected, "we only want to help your mom. I realize you have no reason to trust us –"

"Oh, Mr. Hughes, I assure you, it's not that – I mean, knowing all I do about the two of you… well, who wouldn't trust you?"

Margo looked curiously at Tom who then questioned, "All you know?"

"Well, between Mrs. Peretti and Adam I feel like I know you all fairly well – I mean, I know you're good people."

"Adam?" asked Tom.

"You know Adam?" Margo questioned simultaneously.

"Yeah… well," said Sarah. "I guess I thought you knew that."

Tom and Margo gave each other puzzled looks which conveyed their confusion to Sarah. Then Margo choked back a sigh and asked, "How do you know Adam? Have you heard from him recently?"

"I haven't seen or heard from Adam in a few years now," began Sarah, "but we used to hang out a lot when I lived in L.A."

"You did?" Margo asked with great interest.

"uh huh," Sarah went on. "Mrs. Peretti introduced us one time when he visited her for the weekend."

"She did?"

"Yeah. And his girlfriend Abigail and I were like best friends for years after that."

"Really?"

"Well, we're still really close, even though we no longer live near each other."

"Oh, so you probably lost touch with Adam after he and Abigail broke up then," said a deflated Margo.

"Not really," said Sarah. "Actually he –" Sarah started to say something, but hesitated. She looked down and picked at her thumb nail.

"What?" asked Margo. "Did he do something – um, did he –" Margo was unsure of how to continue, but was beginning to wish the conversation had never led to Adam.

Tom sensed Margo's uneasiness and attempted to finish her question, "I think what Margo is trying to ask is if Adam possibly did something that hurt you or perhaps got you involved in something you'd rather not talk about. I mean, let's just say that we know that Adam had gotten rather skilled in the art of deception. And before we caught on to his actions he just up and disappeared on us."

"Tom," Margo interjected, in order to keep him from going further.

"No. Oh no Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, Adam was a great friend. In fact he helped me through one of the most difficult times in my life."

"He did?" they both asked in surprise.

"M-hmm. He was really great. I wish we'd stayed in touch after I moved back to San Diego. I really miss him sometimes."

Margo's spirits were unexpectedly lifted and her mind was suddenly abuzz with a thousand questions. She hadn't heard anyone speak favorably about her son in years. Just when her excitement had calmed enough to ask a rational question a young woman entered the room looking for Sarah.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The girl asking for Sarah appeared to be in her late teens. When she realized there were people in the room that she didn't recognize she gestured for Sarah to come over to her. She was obviously reluctant to talk in front of the Hughes. Sarah rose quickly and excused herself momentarily from Margo and Tom. Sarah placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder as she led her out into the hallway.

As soon as the girls left the room Margo grabbed Tom's arm and with hushed excitement started in, "Tom, can you believe this? She knows Adam!"

"Yeah," said Tom, placing a hand on her forearm in an attempt to calm her. "But you heard her. She hasn't spoken to him in a long time."

"I know, but honey she knew him before he came home. Maybe she knows what might have happened to make him change so much."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves sweetie," said Tom. "Remember what's going on in the present. We need to focus not only on our situation, but Marlene's as well. And that's what Sarah is going to be interested in."

As they were talking they could tell that the conversation in the hall between Sarah and the other girl was intensifying. Their voices were raising and it was obvious that there was something wrong. Margo and Tom couldn't help but over-hear their intense exchange.

"You've just gotta find a way. Please!" they heard Sarah beg.

"My mom won't let me. We're supposed to leave for Texas tomorrow and she won't let me stay," replied the girl.

"You could tell her that you'll be staying with me, so you won't be alone," said Sarah.

"Sarah," said the girl, trying not to upset her, "I _have_ to go with my family. It's not negotiable. Besides, I haven't seen my relatives for two years. I _want_ to go."

"Then you could take them with you," Sarah exclaimed, as if the idea had just struck her, "they can go along with you and your family. That would even be better!"

"Sarah, we can't do that," replied the girl with a deflated tone. "You know I would do anything to help your mother and you if I could, don't you?" There was a short pause and the girl came back with, "If I could take them with me I would, but I can't. You're going to have to find another solution."

After a pause Sarah softened her tone and responded, "I know. I'm sorry I've been so pushy. It's just with all that's going on, and now my mother…"

The next thing they heard was the door to the back entrance squeak open and shut. The girls had obviously gone outside to continue their conversation.

* * *

Sometime later Tom and Margo were back in their room straightening up and trying to make sense of all that was going on. They had returned to their room after Sarah came back into the kitchen to explain that she had to leave for a bit, but would return as quickly as she could in order to figure out what to do about her mother's situation.

"Tom?" asked Margo, "What is your take on Sarah?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean our first encounter with her was a bit suspect, and she's definitely being secretive at the moment, but she did share that stuff about Adam and Abigail, and seemed to be genuine then," said Margo. "And, I can usually read people fairly clearly, especially when we're talking face-to-face."

Tom nodded, "I agree. I'd bet on your instincts any day over anybody. And you're right, Sarah appears to be reluctant. She's definitely hiding something, but at the same time I get the feeling she's really scared about something and whatever it is she is not going to tell us."

"Well, yeah," offered Margo. "She's got to be scared with all that's happened to her mom."

"I think it's actually more than that," said Tom. "I just got the impression that she wasn't all that surprised that something had happened with her mom."

"Meaning?..."

"Meaning, she apparently knows this Brent guy – or at least she knows enough to keep her mouth shut about him," continued Tom. "And she clearly remained calm when we told her about Marlene… almost too calm. And what was she trying to pawn off to that girl earlier? Whatever it was, the girl didn't want any part of it. I'm not sure if we did the right thing by holding off on contacting the authorities right away after Marlene was abducted."

"Practically everything we've encountered here is a mess Tom. Really – I mean, why us? Why do we have to be the ones to stumble upon all this?"

"I don't know, honey," said Tom rolling his eyes in a sarcastic manner. "Someone apparently has it in for us… I mean, why is it we've never been allowed a peaceful trip outside of the U.S.?"

"Hey, I remember one trip to Paris that was quite peaceful… and _very_ romantic," said Margo with a wistful glance.

"Yeah? Maybe… But that was only after a couple extremely dangerous prior trips abroad, where I recall we were lucky to make it back home alive," replied Tom.

"True," said Margo, then continued in a sly tone, "But, nobody forced you to follow me, you know. Just think where your life would be…" She caught a glimpse of Tom who was smirking by now. "I probably wouldn't have even survived the first disastrous trip, so you'd probably be living a very calm life with some very stable, serious woman – perhaps even my aunt Maggie –"

Tom interrupted Margo's sarcastic vision, "Oh, sure," Tom chuckled, repeating, "Maggie," under his breath. Then he shook his head, "You're real funny – wait, no you're right –" Tom changed his tune, deciding to play along with Margo's scenario for a minute, "imagine, a peaceful existence – no stress over the possibility of my wife getting killed on the job, no interruptions in the middle of dinner from the station calling on a case, no unpredictable schedules –"

"Nope."

"Peaceful," Tom nodded, "calm, stable…"

"Yep."

"…boring," said Tom staring directly into Margo's eyes, "boring as hell."

"Yeah?" Margo tried very hard to hold back the grin that was growing on her face, but it was no use.

Then, suddenly, without warning Tom grabbed Margo and spun her around, ending his move in a dip. Having been caught off guard, Margo let out an unexpected squeal, but it quickly stifled. As Tom slowly lifted her torso to meet his, he looked lovingly into her eyes saying, "I'd rather be mixed up in any messy situation with you than anywhere on this planet without you."

"Oh Tom," Margo's eyes remained locked with his, "I wouldn't want to be anywhere on this planet without you either." Her gaze slid to Tom's lips where she placed a tender kiss.

Parting slightly, Tom continued, "But there are certainly places I'd prefer to be with you at the moment; some exotic, and others rather familiar," he lifted an eyebrow as a flirtatious grin spread across his lips, "You know me sweetie, I'm just as happy to be dancing with you on a rooftop in Paris as I am to be lying with you at home making love in front of the fireplace –"

"Ah, home… with you…" Margo was lost in the picture Tom was creating in her mind.

"I'm sorry sweetie," said Tom.

"Sorry?" asked a confused Margo.

"Sorry that we're stuck here in this God forsaken place in this unbearable heat," he responded. "I should have known better. I should have planned an Alaskan cruise or a trip to Europe instead."

"What? No. No Tom, I – wait, Europe?" Margo's mind was suddenly churning.

"See, I knew it," said Tom, "I should have planned a European vacation."

"No, that's not it," said Margo, relating to Tom in a different form of passion, "No, I forgot to tell you something!"

"What?"

"Well, I guess I didn't forget as much as I had just figured something out after Sarah walked in today," said Margo. "It was what she was saying as she came running in."

Tom looked intrigued, "What?"

"She had no idea that Marlene wasn't there or that we were here. She obviously assumed Marlene was in the kitchen, so as she entered the room she was talking about finding someone."

"Finding someone? Who?"

"She didn't say who, but she said where – Switzerland. She said she found _her_ in Switzerland."

"Switzerland?" asked Tom. "You mean between Oakdale and Mexico she had time to take a trip to Switzerland?"

"No," answered Margo, "well, I don't think so. It was the way she said it, though. She sounded excited, like her mom would also be excited, but I don't think she actually went there."

Tom looked puzzled at this point, "Who did she find? Who's in Switzerland?"

"This is it. This is what I wanted to tell you," Margo responded, "See, something clicked when she ran in saying that. It was the combination of Switzerland and Fairwinds that struck me."

"Fairwinds?" Tom contemplated aloud. He stared at Margo and she nodded her head, eyeing him in a way that told him that he'd get it if he just thought for a moment.' "Ah, Fairwinds… Switzerland… She wasn't looking for Paul or whoever she mentioned to you. She was looking for Rosanna Cabot."

"Exactly Tom," Margo concurred, "Rosanna was the former owner she was looking for – at least that's what I surmised at that moment. And so I confronted Sarah about it."

"What did she say?"

"She didn't really say anything," said Margo. "She didn't have time. You walked in just as I was questioning her and the subject was changed rather quickly to Marlene."

"Wow," exclaimed Tom, "What on earth would she want with Rosanna?"

"I don't know," said Margo, "but I'd certainly like to find out."

Suddenly their door swung wide open, startling both Tom and Margo.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Sarah came running into the room in a complete panic, "THEY TOOK HIM! THEY TOOK HIM! We've gotta go after them right now! You've gotta help me!"

"Slow down, calm down," said Tom as he reached for a chair. "Here, have a seat –"

"I can't sit down. We don't have time!"

"OK," said Margo as her eyes shifted back and forth between Sarah and Tom, "just calm down enough to tell us what's happened. We can't help you if we can't understand what it is you need."

Tom and Margo were able to calm Sarah enough to get her to talk more clearly. Once she was able to speak more calmly, Sarah began, "Graves and his men… they took my… they took Austin!"

"Austin?" questioned Margo and Tom together. Then Margo continued, "Who's Austin? And who is Graves?"

Sarah took a deep breath and exhaled heavily in an attempt to ward off her emotion, but it was no use, she was so worked up that she couldn't suppress the anxiety or the tears that came as she began to explain, "Austin is – he's my little brother. And Graves is the man who you saw take my mom – Brent. But his real name is Burt Graves."

"He's here?" Tom asked anxiously.

"He _was_ here!" Sarah sharply responded, "But now he's gone and we need to find him! We need to go now! I can't let anything happen to Austin, he's just a little boy. He's not the one they want. He's –"

"Wait," said Margo, "what do you mean, 'he's not the one they want?'"

"I – well, he's just NOT!" Sarah was in full panic mode by now and without warning she abruptly bolted toward the door.

Margo spared only a second to grab her beach bag and she and Tom took off after Sarah. They followed her down the hallway to the main entrance and out to the open lot between the buildings. Just as they caught up with Sarah, Alicia came running from around the far side of the carriage house. She was chasing a boy who was running toward Sarah.

When they saw the boy, Tom and Margo slowed their pace and then stopped when they finally met up with Sarah.

"Whew," said a more relaxed Tom, "looks like Graves was just out to give you a good scare. "Hey buddy," he said as he patted the child's head, "glad to see you're safe."

"Yeah, he's safe," Sarah said anxiously, "but that's because he stayed with Alicia like he was told. This isn't Austin."

"It's not?"

"No," said Sarah, "and now we're losing valuable time!" She seemed slightly irritated because the boy had flung his arms around her and was not about to let go. Although she was agitated, Sarah was very gentile while she attempted to peel his arms from around her waist. The boy appeared to be a few years older than Tom and Margo's nephew, Johnny, with straight, light brown hair. His face was clinched tightly, determined to remain attached to Sarah. Once she freed herself from his grip, she knelt down to talk to him, "Don't you remember what I told you?"

The boy looked down at the ground and didn't respond.

"I told you that no matter what, you're supposed to stay with Alicia, right?" reminded Sarah.

"But, I'm scared," said the boy.

"I know," said Sarah gently, "and I'm trying to keep you safe. And in order to do that you need to let me go get Austin back, so we can all go somewhere safe together."

Sarah turned to Alicia, "I really need your help here," she said.

"Yes, señorita Sarah," said Alicia.

Margo interrupted the women, "Can I ask what exactly is going on here? I mean, if this isn't Austin –"

Sarah protested discussing the situation for a bit, but when she finally realized Margo and Tom weren't going to give up and time just kept ticking away she reluctantly decided to say a few words on the issue.

"OK," said Sarah, "this is Toby. This is the boy Graves was looking for in the first place. And my mom will absolutely kill me if I let Graves get his hands on this boy. But now he's got Austin, and very soon he's going to realize he's got the wrong boy. And I don't know what to do with Toby while I go after Austin –"

"So, you've known that this Graves character has been after Toby for some time?" asked Tom.

"Yeah," said Sarah, "for over a year."

"And up 'til now you've kept him from harm," Margo's words were more on the order of keeping the conversation going than asking a question.

"We, my mom and I, had worked out a situation with a family friend."

"This girl we saw earlier?" asked Margo.

"Man, do you ever miss a trick?" asked Sarah, with an air of sarcasm toward Margo.

Margo didn't respond to the statement, but simply continued, "So, your plans fell through this time, and your mom and brother are in trouble, and now you're feeling overwhelmed with all of this."

"Yeah," Sarah responded as if she was deflated.

"Listen Sarah," said Tom, "we truly want to help you here, but we have to be honest with you. We know that you've been less than honest with us since the moment we met you. If you want our help you are going to have to be up front with us going forward. We have no idea what we are stepping into here. We're stuck in a foreign country. We know that Graves is largely responsible not only for us being stuck here, but for two kidnappings in the past twelve hours as well. What exactly makes you think we want to stick around and go chasing after this guy? And why would we do it on the request of young woman whose trustworthiness is questionable at best?"

"Fine!" responded Sarah abruptly, "I can do this on my own. My mom and I were just fine until you two had to come snooping around, anyway!"

"Snooping around?" Margo chimed in, "Now wait just a minute –"

"Just because you didn't trust me when that Paul Ryan guy came dragging me into your party, doesn't give you the right to come snooping into my private life."

"Oh, you just hold on –" Sarah had struck a nerve with Margo with that last statement.

Tom decided it was time to set the record straight with Sarah. He told her that he would explain their situation if she would reciprocate, since he recognized that she was completely misinterpreting their presence at the shelter.

Alicia took Toby inside while the three of them remained outside. Tom began telling Sarah the tale of their interrupted vacation. He filled her in on their missing identification and being chased by the men up the pier and into town. He even explained that it was Lyla who suggested they contact Marlene.

Sarah got a little defensive when he brought up how they ended up at the shelter, suggesting that they had brought trouble to her mom, but Tom argued that she was obviously already in plenty of trouble before they even booked their vacation.

"It just all seems too coincidental," said Margo, furthering Tom's point. "You must be able to see that for some reason, the people who are after your mom and Toby also seem very interested in causing trouble for us. But for the life of me I can't figure out why."

"I know," said Tom, "what possible motive would these people have for wanting to cause trouble for us? I've been racking my brain trying to come up with something that could have happened on the ship or at one of the port of calls… I just keep coming up empty."

"I just find it all to be rather bizarre," said Margo. "But, if they think they've gotten the better of us, or that we're just a couple of your average, everyday idiots they have no idea who they're dealing with."

Tom was struck suddenly by Margo's words and attitude, and without thinking he let out a small chuckle, which didn't sit all that well with Margo at the time.

"I'm glad you find this so amusing," she said with a stern glance."

"Well, I –" Tom was finding it difficult to keep a straight face.

"You what?" continued Margo. "You find our situation to be funny? Perhaps the heat is clouding your judgment, or something."

"No," replied Tom, in a more composed manner. He leaned close to Margo and whispered, "It's just that you suddenly reminded me of a feisty young woman I once knew." Then he gave her a little wink.

Blushing slightly, Margo completely lost her train of thought at Tom's comment.

Tom smiled, and then calmly said to Sarah, "You just need to understand we would have much preferred finishing our cruise as planned. We would actually be preparing to board our flight back to Oakdale right about now if we had been allowed back aboard the ship. It was definitely not our intention to get stranded here."

At that, Margo took Tom's hand in hers and then leaned her head against Tom's shoulder, "He's right Sarah. More than anything we just want to be able to go home. But, with everything that's gone on I doubt that's going to happen very soon."


	18. Chapter 18

18

As Tom, Margo, and Sarah were finally starting to come to an understanding, and Sarah appeared ready to open up a little more, they were interrupted by Maria. She came toward the group gesturing for everyone to be quiet. She was noticeably anxious and kept looking back over her shoulder.

Sarah was not pleased that they were being interrupted, but when Maria finally spoke they all realized the importance of her anxiety.

"Señora," began a nervous Maria, "Man!..." she pointed frantically back toward the main building.

Sarah walked toward her and the ladies had a brief, frenzied conversation in Spanish, then Sarah turned to Tom and Margo to explain, "We apparently still have company. Maria says there is a man in my mom's office rifling through things. I need to go check it out."

"Wait," Margo said as she lightly grabbed Sarah's arm. "You can't just go in there by yourself with no plan."

"Well what do you expect me to do? I'm not going to let someone come in here and destroy my mom's hard work. Besides, he could be long gone by now."

"I'm just saying we should do this together," said Margo. "I know a thing or two about these types of situations and I think we should go in with a plan."

A short while later Sarah stood in the doorway of her mother's office. Inside the office a man was crouched in front of an open file drawer busily trying to stuff files back in their place. He quietly closed the drawer and turned to leave when he noticed Sarah.

"You?" Sarah's accusatory tone gave hints that she was startled to see who it was staring back at her – almost as if she knew him. The tone was puzzling to Margo who was standing with her back against the wall on one side of the doorway. She peered across the doorway and caught eyes with Tom who was standing flat against the wall on the opposite side of the doorway. Without time or opportunity to react, however, Margo's current queries simply added to the mix of unresolved questions she had swimming through her head about this girl and their curious circumstances.

The man responded quickly, "I'm not here to cause any trouble. I'm leaving right now."

"You certainly are," responded Sarah. "I'll show you the way. But first you need to put back whatever you've taken, and then you need to tell me where you're hiding my mom and brother."

"I haven't taken anything," said the man, "and I don't know where your mom is."

"We'll see about that," said Sarah sharply.

"Now wait," the man countered, "I don't think you want to start anything here."

At that, Sarah backed up slightly. Although Tom and Margo were unable to see what was going on inside the room, they both were able to deduce that the man had likely drawn a weapon of some sort by the way Sarah reacted. She had backed straight from the doorway with her hands slightly raised. The two made eye contact, nodded at each other and regained their focus between Sarah and the sounds from inside the office.

"Look," said Sarah, "I don't know what you're hoping to gain by rifling through my mom's office, but I can tell you you're not going to find anything here."

"You don't need to worry about what I'm doing," said the man. "I assure you that what I'm doing is in your mom's best interest."

"How can you say that?" asked Sarah. "You and your goons have done nothing but terrorize my mom for months."

"I assure you that's not the case," said the man. "Please remain calm and just let me leave peacefully. Everything will be fine if you just let me go."

"Right," Sarah said sarcastically, "and then I'll just happen to buy your bull when you try to tell me you only have Toby's best interest at heart when you're trying to snatch him away from the only family he's ever known. He's just a little boy. And, Austin – Austin's even younger." Sarah lost her composure for a moment, but her fear kept her in check. With greater determination she added, "I'm afraid I'm not going to let you go quietly."

"Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to convince you otherwise," said the man as he walked through the doorway with a gun pointed directly at Sarah's head.

Seeing the gun come through the doorway first, Tom quickly grabbed for it. Sarah then ducked behind Tom in order to draw all of the man's attentions toward the two of them. As both men struggled for control of the weapon Tom made every effort to force their hands in the air, directing the aim of the gun away from anyone.

When the moment was just right, Margo grasped her hands together and delivered a swift and sharp blow to the back of the man's neck. Immediately, the man's legs buckled beneath him, his head and arms fell limp, and he landed face down on the floor at Tom's feet.

Tom carefully passed the weapon to Margo, who quickly inspected the ammunition and then turned toward the victim. She steadily aimed the gun toward the man while Tom rolled him over.

When the man was laying flat on his back Tom and Margo were stunned to learn that he was the same man who had chased them up the pier and later spoken with Marlene in the drive at the shelter before she was abducted.

"Well, isn't this interesting?" asked Tom, "He just keeps popping up, like the proverbial bad penny."

"But Tom, remember he was supposedly helping Marlene," said Margo.

"Helping? Helping?" said Sarah with a cynical air. "I highly doubt that."

"Yes, according to the conversation we overheard, this man was helping your mom despite being known to associate with the man who abducted her last night," said Tom. "Who is he?"

"He's one of the jerks who's been terrorizing my mom and Toby for months," said Sarah. "What makes you think he's helping my mom?"

"We clearly heard your mom ask this man if his boss knew that he was helping her," replied Tom. "Plus, he knew that we were here, but didn't tell Graves when he asked him directly if we were."

"I'm not convinced that he's trustworthy," added Margo, "but I am quite certain that he thinks he's playing both sides rather convincingly, which is bound to lead to huge trouble eventually."

"One thing is certain," said Tom, "if we don't secure this guy soon, he's going to come to."


	19. Chapter 19

19

The man was slowly waking up as he sat strapped to one of the kitchen chairs. The contents of his shoulder bag were spread out on the table, including a laptop computer, a digital camera, several memory cards, a flash drive, and a few file folders filled with papers.

Sarah was desperate to get into the computer and poke around for information, but hit a snag when it asked for a password. "Damn it!" she exclaimed as she slammed the cover shut on the laptop. "Where are they?" She had not noticed that the man was now awake.

"Hey," said the man, "be careful of that!"

Sarah and Margo took immediate notice at the sound of his voice. Margo had been busy securing the weapons they found on the man, which included a second smaller handgun and a rather threatening looking knife, which were both strapped to the inside of his lower legs. Tom was too busy to notice what was going on in the kitchen, because he was busy talking on the telephone in the hallway after having gone through the man's wallet.

"Kind of different not being the one calling the shots, ay?" asked a sarcastic Sarah as she rose and stood over him. "How d'ya like it?"

Margo wanted to jump in and give some seasoned assistance, but she really wanted Tom to be there when she did. And, while she knew Sarah's approach wouldn't get them very far in interrogating this guy, Margo was sympathetic to her frustrations and found an odd amusement watching her. She had witnessed many rookie cops over the years and she was reminded of some of the more green recruits who had graced her squad over the years. She smiled thinking briefly of how fortunate she was in more recent years not having had to deal with a real hot-head in some time.

"And you!" Sarah said addressing Margo.

"Me?" asked Margo, surprised by her sharp tone.

"You," Sarah continued, "I'm glad you're finding this so terribly amusing."

"What?" Margo suddenly realized how cavalier she must have appeared. "I'm sorry Sarah. I don't find any of this amusing at all."

"Well, you could have fooled me," replied Sarah.

"What do we have, 'good cop/bad cop' going on here?" asked the man. "Or should I say 'good cop/amateur, wanna-be cop.'"

"You have the nerve to criticize me right now when you're the one strapped to that chair and I'm the one controlling your fate?"

"Controlling my fate? You?" the man balked. "My dear, if it weren't for Lt. Hughes and her husband you'd be in a very different situation at the moment. I'd remember that the next time you go trying to play amateur detective."

Stunned to hear the man address her and Tom as he did, Margo broke in, "I see someone has done some homework."

Tom, who had hung up the phone and overheard the last exchanged, interrupted, "Honey, he's a bit more schooled than you might even care to guess."

"What?" Margo questioned, giving Tom a quizzical glance.

"Shall I fill her in," Tom asked the man, "or do you want to do the honors?"

The man smiled, "I knew you had to be talking to our mutual friend. Can't say I'm surprised; he thinks very highly of you – of you both. Knew it was only a matter of time with you two on the case.

"Tom?" Margo asked, "What's going on?"

The man nodded at Tom, "Go ahead." Glancing toward Sarah he continued, "This one's a bit of a loose cannon, but that can be dealt with if necessary."

Sarah didn't take kindly to the comment, but she calmed right down once Margo convinced her it was important to hear what was going on.

"Foley here knows our friend Jason," began Tom, giving Margo a telling look.

"Jason?" Margo asked, and then silently mouthed, 'Benedict?'

Tom nodded. She then sat back in order to give her full attention to Tom. Her interest was highly peaked.

"The particulars are a bit guarded, but he's deeply infiltrated – got years in on this one apparently," said Tom.

Sarah was unsure how to interpret the conversation and couldn't help interrupting, "Exactly what's going on here? I mean, you're acting as if this is all some sort of family reunion here or something. Does anyone care that time is ticking away and we're no closer to getting any info out of this guy."

Nobody was immediately ready to respond to Sarah, but after studying Tom's face, which conveyed that they couldn't really keep her in the dark about all this, Margo reached for Sarah's arm, "Sarah," said Margo calmly, "we all want the same thing here."

"How can you possibly say that?" said an angry Sarah, "I guess I wouldn't expect you all to care what happens with my mother," she paused briefly as emotion caught in her voice, "but I thought the two of you would at least have a soft spot for an innocent kid." She buried her face into her bent arm on the table and began sobbing heavily.

Margo rose and attempted to offer a comforting hug, but Sarah threw her arms back, rejecting the sympathy. She didn't let Sarah's attitude affect her, but decided to offer comfort through words rather than touch. "We absolutely care about what has happened to your brother and your mom. We all do. Foley here is on our side. You can trust him."

"Trust him?" questioned Sarah, hastily wiping at tears. "Trust this guy? No thanks!" Her tone got more agitated as she looked over at Tom, "What do you think you're doing?"

Tom had begun loosening the ropes and nylon straps that they had used to secure Foley to the chair, which Sarah wasn't ready for. "He's on our side Sarah. We don't need to keep him tied up, he's not going anywhere."

"Oh right," Sarah snipped, "I see how things are going now. Just like I thought in the beginning, I can't trust anyone. I'm dealing with liars and crooked cops! I don't need anyone's help. I'm outta here!"

Foley stood and stretched, and then nonchalantly muttered, "Who's the liar?" He reached for the small stack of file folders on the table and pulled one out. Rocking it back and forth in front of Sarah he continued, "You've got no room to talk, my friend."

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Sarah.

"Oh sure, and I suppose your friends here know all about those boys & who they really are," countered Foley.

The scowl Sarah gave Foley was that of a teenager who'd just been told she couldn't go out with her friends. She jerked her head, turning her gaze away from everyone and seethed, "You have no idea what you're talking about!" With her back turned to everyone she quickly brushed a tear from her cheek and then continued more calmly, "You may think you know a lot of things, but you don't really know anything." Making sure not to look toward any of them she silently left the room.


	20. Chapter 20

20

Foley wasn't sad to see Sarah leave the room, but Margo didn't seem to find the same appeal. She was growing more concerned by the expanding time loss since Marlene and Austin's disappearance. Tom could sense her unease, but saw the moment without Sarah as an opportunity to do a little fact-finding. "Exactly what were you trying to imply by that remark about the boys identities?" Tom asked Foley as he handed him a fresh cup of coffee. "I take it that there's a significant story there."

Foley took his time in deciding how to respond. After a glance at Margo, noticing she was growing more agitated, he began to tell a story. At first both Tom and Margo were confused. The story seemed to have nothing to do with anything they expected. "I have a cousin who is a contractor in Texas." he began. "He mainly does commercial work."

"OK, what does this have to do with anything?" remarked Margo in an impatient tone. "We are wasting valuable time here."

"Just listen for a minute," Foley responded, "you're really going to want to hear this. I promise you it will all make sense."

Trying to ease Margo's anxiety Tom gave Foley a telling glance and offered, "I'm sure there's a relevant point you'll be making here."

"Absolutely," Foley responded, "I think you are going to find this all very interesting, and relevant."

Margo reluctantly sat down and nodded at Tom, which told him that she was willing to hear the man out.

"Anyway, my cousin –" Foley continued, "A little more than two years ago my cousin was overseeing this construction project near San Antonio. He and his crew got in on this major development gig where they put up these new hotels throughout the South. So, working like that, and moving around quite a bit, he stayed in a lot of cheap hotels and trailers with the guys he worked with."

Noticing Margo fidget with her watch and then begin tapping her fingers on the table Foley figured he'd better get to the point of his story rather quickly. "On this particular job near San Antonio his crew was staying at a boarding house where there were several other people staying at the time. One particular woman who was staying there had a young boy. My cousin developed a fondness for the woman, and they began seeing one another.

"My cousin sort of made himself at home with the woman and began staying with her and her son on a regular basis. One day when he went into her room he noticed it had been ransacked. The woman had been knocked out and the boy was missing. My cousin had apparently endeared himself to the woman, because one day, out of the blue, she confessed to him that the boy wasn't really her son and that they could all be in serious danger."

"Are you talking about this boy Sarah is trying to protect – Toby?" asked Tom.

"Bingo!" said Foley. "Benedict said you were sharp." Typing his password into his computer he continued, "I want to show you a few files that we have on this kid."

Tom and Margo briefly scanned through reports that the F.B.I. had on the recovery effort of then three year old Toby White. The search took several months and finally came to a messy end in a remote area in New Mexico. Sadly, the woman who had been illegally raising Toby, Jackie White, was shot and killed by one of the kidnappers when she tried to take matters into her own hands. After the shooting, Foley and his partner were able to take control of the situation and rescue the boy.

"This kid sure seems to be popular," Margo remarked.

"You have no idea," replied Foley.

"What do you mean?" asked Tom.

"I believe your confusion can be clarified in one word," said Foley. He paused for a moment, causing both Margo and Tom to urge him to continue. He clearly spoke one word, a word that Tom and Margo knew all too well. A word that spoke volumes, and gave great clarity, yet left them both with many questions. As a picture of a slightly graying, dark-haired older man loaded on his computer screen he muttered, "Stenbeck."

"What?" responded a stunned Tom. He was then intrigued by Margo's sudden, "Wait. This kid – is he..." She stopped mid-sentence as she spontaneously leaned over the table, took control of the laptop, and excitedly continued, "Tom, remember our conversation earlier about Sarah and Switzerland?"

Tom suddenly knew where Margo was headed, "No. Margo, it can't be."

Margo was looking up information on one of the secure federal database sites through Foley's computer.

Foley was a little confused, "Now I'm the one who's lost. What can't it be?"

Margo kept entering information and waiting for pages to load. Tom moved over to where he was leaning over her shoulder, "What are you looking up?"

"I need to find a certain file," Margo answered without looking up from what she was doing. "I know it's here, I just have to go through the right securities. Ugh! I lost the connection!" Margo sat back down in a slump of disappointment. Then she looked at Foley, "What do you have on this kid's history prior to the kidnapping?"

Foley slid a worn, bulky file folder across the table, "Everything I know is in here."

Margo picked up the file. She glanced at Tom before laying it open in front of them. Scattered every which way were photos of a cute, dark-haired toddler – some of him playing at a park, some that looked like they could be from one of his birthday parties, and even one of him sleeping in a car seat in the back seat of a car. There was one photo of a young, dark-haired woman holding him on the steps of an old house. She appeared happy, but weary - as if she needed sleep, or was slightly ill. "Is this that Jackie White?" she asked, picking up the photo to have a closer look.

"That's her," said Foley. "My cousin took that photo. It's the last photo of her before her death – it was taken the day before the boy was kidnapped."

Margo was deep in thought, and slightly distracted. But, Tom continued to look through the papers. "Who is this?" Tom had picked up a photo that had noticeably been crumpled and then flattened back out many times, as many of the folds had created tears and wear marks over the glossy surface of the photo. The child was a bit younger in the photo, and he was being held by an Asian woman, who appeared rather emotionless.

"We've hit a dead-end with that," said Foley. What we do know is that Jackie told my cousin that this woman gave Toby to her. We know she came from somewhere in Southeast Asia – possibly Thailand. Her passport had been doctored so many times, it's hard to really tell. We know she was associated with Stenbeck – Jackie shared that she met the woman over the Internet. She was looking for work as an Au Pair overseas. The woman was going to put her in touch with some people in Asia, but out of the blue she contacted her asking if she would be interested in taking care of a young boy in the U.S. They met up at O'Hare where the woman basically handed off the kid, gave her a load of cash, told her to take the kid and move far away. She was trying to save the boy from an evil man. She gave Jackie this photo of Stenbeck," Foley pointed to a wrinkled head-shot of James, "and told her that if she ever saw him she should cut out of town immediately."

"She just did it? No questions asked?" asked Tom. "Why on earth would this Jackie go along with all that craziness?"

"Money," Foley continued. "She had to have been given close to a million dollars, because when we seized everything after her death, we found over $700,000 in a bag in the back of her closet, along with this crumpled photo and a note stating his apparent birth date – asking that she never reveal it in public records."

"What was the birth date?" asked an anxious Margo.

Foley pulled out the note and handed it to Margo. She showed it to Tom. "Honey, I know what you're thinking, but that's so unlikely," he said after giving the note a quick glance.

"Tom, come on," Margo exclaimed, "This is James we're talking about. Anything is likely." She just stared at him, trying to get him to see this the way she did.

"I know honey," responded Tom, "but how would he have survived that explosion?"

"Exactly the same way James did. That wasn't the first explosion he's had experience with. Rosanna was so distraught, she wouldn't have had a clue what really happened." explained Margo.

"Wait! Can you two fill me in on what you're talking about?" asked Foley, who was becoming slightly irritated that he wasn't in on their 'secret.'

Margo looked at Tom, and shrugged, "So?"

"Well, I can't really argue," said Tom. Looking at Foley he shared, "Does the Commission know the tie between Stenbeck and this kid? I mean, why is James so interested in him?"

Foley sighed. "There are theories – most common is that the kid is the son of a former lover. But, we really don't know. All leads died with the Asian woman I'm afraid. We can pretty much rule her out as the mother, though, because the boy has no obvious Asian features." He questioned again, "So? Who is he?"

This time Tom was the one who sighed. He shook his head and then explained, "Well we think he could possibly be the son of a man named Jordan Sinclair, who is one of James Stenbeck's illegitimate sons – making him Stenbeck's biological grandson, Cabot Sinclair."


	21. Chapter 21

21

Tom spent some time explaining to Foley the connection between James, Jordan, Cabot, Cabot's adoptive mother, Rosanna Cabot, and of course Margo's own brother, Craig Montgomery, who had been the one to originally setup the not-so-legitimate adoption of Cabot by Rosanna. Margo further commented on Sarah's recent behavior, sharing her theory that Sarah had been poking around Oakdale in an attempt to get information on Rosanna. "It just makes too much sense not to believe," said Margo. "I picked up on the Rosanna thing the minute Sarah stepped into the facility this morning.

Foley bought that the possibility existed that this Toby kid could in fact be Cabot Sinclair. He went so far as to say that, "it sounded plausible, given the circumstances."

"Plausible. Good," Tom's tone was more direct. "So, are we to assume that your work has put you in direct contact with Stenbeck? He's alive and well these days?"

"I've not ever been in direct contact with him," said Foley.

"Oh," Tom said in surprise, "I guess I thought... Never mind. I'm not supposed to know what you're doing anyway."

"It is widely thought that he's been in Europe lately, running the show through a small network of his closest _friends_," responded Foley. "He's definitely calling all the shots, and I'm sorry, but his guys were responsible for your difficulties trying to reboard your ship."

"Wonderful! How about that sweetie - once again we've tripped into the vacation of our dreams, haven't we?" Tom sarcastically tossed at Margo. "I mean, imagine... us... in a foreign country... finding ourselves smack in the middle of one of Stenbeck's garden variety international capers. Makes you kind of nostalgic and misty for old times, don't you think?"

"Tom!" Margo didn't exactly appreciate the humor of the situation at the moment.

"Sorry," Tom immediately corrected, "But I just couldn't help it. You gotta admit, somewhere along the line someone branded us with the curse of Stenbeck, and the sooner we face that fact the better off we'll be." His tone was more than sarcastic, with a hint of anger.

"Tom, you're scaring me," said Margo with a flat expression. "This kind of behavior isn't like you - me, maybe, but not you."

"Maybe the heat has finally gotten to me," said Tom. "And perhaps now I can see why it is that we have been drawn into all of this - James." He swung his arms wide and dropped them back to his sides. "Of course it's James! And then consider how much of an idiot I am for allowing us to get pulled into yet another one of his elaborate messes. He's probably sitting somewhere right now chuckling it up that he's gotten to us again."

Foley didn't know what to make of the situation. He wasn't sure if Tom was serious or joking. He leaned back against the counter and remained quiet.

Margo stepped toward Tom and took hold of his wrists. "Baby, you're not an idiot."

"Sure I am," said Tom. "I'm always the one who flat-out believes he's dead – until he's not." He laughed at that, "I mean, come on… I actually bought that he died when he fell out of that airplane – the very first time. How stupid was that?" Tom was pacing the room swinging his arms in large swooping gestures to punctuate each of his supposed short-comings. "I convicted Barbara of his death once, for God's sake. Was that not egg on my face when we found out, 'oops! He's alive.'? Oh, and then after Paul shot him – yeah, how bad was that? I was so single-minded in believing that dead meant dead that I refused to believe you each and every time you swore up, down and sideways that he was alive."

"Tom, don't."

"God!" he seethed between his teeth. "How does he do it? How does he always get away with everything?" Tom's quivering chin was betraying his emotion. He looked at the ceiling to prevent tears. "And what did we ever do to deserve to get caught up in his crap so many times? Is it too much to ask for a calm and relaxing vacation with my wife once in a while?"

Margo's head dropped against his chest as she grabbed hold of his shirt on either side of his waist. She had temporarily lost the ability to speak, and was doing nothing to prevent her tears from forming. She was gripping his shirt, as if pleading, and in a soft cry she finally muttered a muffled, "Stop."

"Listen," said a stunned Foley, "I didn't mean to trigger something here." Foley was definitely not the warm and fuzzy type, and ackward family drama was about as far from his comfort zone as it got. "I realize you got screwed out of the rest of your vacation, but you'll get back home. Things are already in the works for that."

Margo continued to bury her face in Tom's chest. Tom could feel every emotion resonating through her body. Letting go of his emotional intensity he wrapped his arms tightly around her. "I'm sorry," he whispered against the side of her head. Still upset, but relieved that he was calming down, Margo let go of his shirt and wrapped her arms around him. After that Tom could feel her tension lightening. "Are you ok?"

Muffled against his chest Margo sniffed and replied, "If you are."

"I'm sorry sweetie," Tom whispered as he leaned his head even tighter against hers. They stood there quietly, as if they could steal away in the moment to another time or place – anywhere but where they were at the moment.

Foley fidgetted with the photo in his hand and cleared his throat.

Margo lifted her head and gave Foley a questioning look. Her nose was red, exaggerating the expression. "Were you going to share the details of this so called plan to get us back home? I mean, after all, it does involve us."

"Honey." Tom was now much calmer and thought it best to keep her reeled in as well.

"And I'm curious," Margo continued to address Foley, "exactly how would you feel if your personal possessions were taken from you to further some cruel, sick plan? I don't know about you, but I feel violated and cheated. It's so nice to know that you were a part of making that happen."

"Part of making that happen?" Foley shot back in confusion. "I had nothing to do with what happened."

"Margo," Tom offered calmly, "he didn't take our things."

"But he didn't do anything to prevent them from screwing with us."

"Honey, why would he have a say in any of that?" said Tom. "You know all about under cover work. You're just letting your emotions take over right now."

"Oh, am I?" Margo questioned. Her tone was now heading to where Tom's had been moments before. "What has happened to our stuff Tom? Doesn't it upset you that we may never see any of it again - not to mention who's gone through it? And Foley here seems to be so on top of things where we're concerned. We're out of the loop, exposed like sitting ducks, and all the while he knows everything that's happening behind the scenes. Maybe Sarah's not so far off in her opinion of him after all."

"Listen," said Tom, "we all have to calm down."

"I agree," said Foley.

Margo wasn't emotionally ready to give up, and she certainly didn't appreciate Foley's tone at the moment, but rationally she knew it was ridiculous to keep things going with him. "I'm sorry," she shared with the room in general. "but under the circumstances I'd say I'm entitled to an outburst or two. And you seem so indifferent to our feelings."

Foley apologized as best he could muster by saying, "Truth be told, I'm not really a people person. That's probably why working under cover with low-lifes suites me so well."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The tension had eased considerably and the trio was sitting calmly at the kitchen table discussing Marlene's situation. Foley had shared his belief that she was most likely being held at the Graves home. According to Foley, the Graves name carried a great deal of influence locally, the kind of influence that drug money offered foreigners who bought up large quantities of real estate and commerce in the area. His guess was that she had been taken directly there, because it was a place that local authorities wouldn't pay any attention, since Graves Sr. pretty much owned the department.

"So, do you think that the boy was taken there also?" asked Margo.

"That would make the most sense to me," said Foley. "First off, these guys have no interest in keeping track of a whiney kid. So they'd at least be smart enough to hold him where Marlene was - well, maybe after the first hour of crying and what not. But, ultimately, These guys know Graves well. And he doesn't allow his men to do anything without direct approval, including causing serious injury or worse. I know that Graves wants this kid alive. He's much more valuable that way. So keeping him with Marlene would be the calmest, most reliable way to make that happen."

"But," interjected Tom, "this isn't the kid they're after. What's going to happen once they find that out?"

"Knowing Marlene, I think she'll keep them thinking they've got Toby for as long as she possibly can."

Margo was restless, but nonetheless had caught the details of the discussion. Her mind had been wandering between Marlene and Austin's ordeal, the Toby/Cabot situation, and their own predicament. She still was wanting to know what the plan was to get home, but that would take a back seat as long as she worried more about the safety of this kid that she didn't even know. She was as tough as nails and always at the top of her game when attempting to solve a case, but those involving children always brought out her exceptional work. It suddenly occurred to her that she was missing some details, "Hey," she addressed Foley, "you indicated that there were items of interest relating to both of these boys, yet you've not shared anything about Austin."

"Oh, of course," Foley responded. "Well, that story isn't as flashy, but it is relevant. Austin was more or less a casualty of circumstances and part of the reason Marlene is now living in Mexico."

"Huh?" asked Tom.

"See," continued Foley, "prior to settling here Marlene had been living in the states - mainly southern California."

"We know," said Margo. "At one time she was one of my sister's teachers."

"Sure, that was way back," Foley acknowledged. She did a lot of teaching and working as an aid in the schools and in private situations for years. But later on she worked for different government agencies. Most recently she was a child advocate for the DCFS Child Placement Services. She developed a special interest in Austin for some reason when he landed in the system as an infant. Evidently she petitioned the courts to adopt him, but not having gone through proper adoption channels she was't eligible. She then tried to go through the steps to become a foster parent, but learned early on that she wasn't going to qualify. It took over a year for her to get this far, and by then the child's foster family was taking steps to adopt him themselves.

"Marlene was getting desperate. She wanted that boy, and would do just about anything to get him," continued Foley.

"Please tell me she didn't kidnap him," announced Margo in a scolding voice.

"I wouldn't exactly say that what she did was completely above board," responded Foley, "but, no, she didn't kidnap the boy."

Margo and Tom both sighed in relief, and then Tom prompted, "So then, how is it that she now has him?"

"OK," Foley drew a deep breath, "this is where things get interesting." He gave a deliberate glance toward the hallway, and listened intently for a moment. Hearing nothing, he opened another file from the pile on the table. "Of course, after Ms. White was killed and the kid was seized, every effort was made to locate next of kin. The fact that the kid had no birth record or other legal form of identification made it impossible to find any. So, naturally he was put into the system. It was about six months after White's death when someone showed up claiming to be the boy's grandfather. It came completely out of the blue, but the man claimed to have been searching for a couple of years, offering that his daughter and grandson had been missing for several years and that he had tracked their whereabouts overseas. One dead lead after another was wearing him down until one finally led him back to the states and to this boy. When DNA tests revealed that the man could in fact be the boy's grandfather he was released into his temporary custody."

"Was it Stenbeck?" asked Margo.

"According to these documents," said Foley, "his name was Gunther, Carl Gunther."

"Not one of his known aliases," said Margo.

"Were any flags raised with the DNA testing?" asked Tom. "I mean, obviously if you had Stenbeck's DNA in your hands, wouldn't the federal database be screaming with bells and whistles?"

"That's just it," Foley replied, "nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Absolutely nothing threw up any flags. His story checked out at every turn - that is, until he was supposed to appear before the court for a three-month follow-up. He never showed up. Then, when authorities went to his home, everything was gone, and there was no trace he had ever been there."

"So, I don't understand," said Tom, "If he just vanished, then how do you know that this kid is the kid we know as Toby? And how does Austin tie into it?"

"This is where I came into the picture," said Foley with a little excitement.

"You?" asked Margo.

"Yes. Well," began Foley, "I was called in to help investigate the kidnapping of a young boy."

"I thought you said that Marlene didn't..." began Tom. But, he was quickly interrupted by Foley.

"She didn't," he said, "but you're on the right track."

"Austin?" questioned Tom.

"Exactly." Foley's enthusiasm seemed a bit out of place to Margo, who was growing more anxious to get on with something besides sitting in the kitchen of a Mexican women's shelter in the middle of nowhere.

Her face must have revealed her unease, because Foley settled down a bit before continuing, "The F.B.I. had been called in on a kidnapping case involving this boy Austin. But, it wasn't long before the investigation turned from kidnapping to fraud. The stories kept changing. The young foster parents had been well rehearsed, but the woman finally broke under interrogation. She revealed that a man had offered them $1.5 million if they would go along with a kidnapping scheme. They received $50,000 cash up front, with more to come after the investigation calmed down. They were in it up to their eyeballs."

"Is there a link between this kid and Stenbeck as well?" asked Margo.

"I honestly don't know," said Foley. "What I can tell you is that further investigation brought us to this so-called grandfather again. The foster parents worked with artists to render a likeness of the man who'd swindled them and my partner recognized that he looked an awful lot like this grandfather."

"So, if this guy isn't Stenbeck," asked Tom, and Margo completed his thought, "then who is he?"

Foley pulled out the artist's sketches and a couple other photos that revealed the man from a considerable distance, "Here. Can you make a determination if this guy is Stenbeck from these?"

Tom and Margo looked them over carefully. The man in the photos had a thick head of white hair and was wearing large, dark sunglasses. His clothes were over-sized and baggy. The man in the sketch bore the same thick head of hair and had some deep wrinkles along his eyes and heavy, sagging cheeks. He was wearing glasses and had a general familiarity in his overall appearance, but there was nothing about his face that pointed to an obvious disguise. They had familiarity with some of James' disguises in the past, but the sketches definitely didn't look like any of those, and neither could say without doubt that the man they saw in the photos was him. "If only you had video of him," said Margo. "I'd recognize his walk, or manerisms. I'm positive."

"Yeah, I would too," added Tom. "But I can't determine anything from these."

"Here's the deal," continued Foley, "whoever this guy is, he took these boys directly to Ms. Watts himself. He wanted her to take them, care for them. He enticed her to take Toby by dangling Austin like bait on a hook. Marlene was more than anxious to get Austin, so apparently she was happy to take the other kid as well."

"She's been keeping these boys, full-well knowing the illegal manner in which they came to her?" asked a surprised Margo.

"She has those boys legally!" shot an angry Sarah as she stepped into the kitchen.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Tom and Foley were out in the lot between the buildings attempting to start an old pick-up truck. Foley was tinkering under the hood while Tom was hooking up a set of jumper cables to the battery in Foley's car (which he had driven up from the secluded spot he had parked earlier down the road). "Here," said Tom as he handed the free end to Foley, "hook them up and let the battery charge for a while." Without looking up, Foley took the cable, hooked it up to the battery terminals and wiped his hands across his shirt. He then turned to face Tom and leaned against the bumper with a heavy sigh.

"Why do you let her rile you up like that?" asked Tom.

"I don't know," grumbled Foley. "She's just so dang irritating."

"But, she has a right to be upset, you know," suggested Tom. "She's seriously concerned about her loved ones. Your behavior toward her is just not helping to ease the situation. You were right when you said you're not a people person. It shows."

"Thanks a lot," Foley responded, a bit put off.

"Well, you said it first," Tom smiled, letting him know he wasn't trying to start something. "I just think you need to take a 'time-out' and try to gain some perspective. You're supposed to be a professional, but it would seem that you have allowed this girl to get under your skin, and possibly all this under-cover time to cloud your judgment when it comes to dealing with the innocent."

"Innocent?"

Tom shook his head, "Seriously man, give it a rest. We need to get this truck started, because we certainly can't all drive up in your vehicle. Let's try to focus and figure out what we're going to do here – settle down and stop making this all so difficult." Tom thought a moment and then continued, "Or, perhaps that's your plan."

Moments prior, Tom had suggested that he and Foley go outside in order to make some plans after things nearly fell apart in the kitchen. Margo was extremely supportive of the suggestion, as she herself was getting more and more irritated by the arguing between Foley and Sarah.

Margo had convinced Sarah to take her into her mom's office. She figured that she might get Sarah to calm down if she could look around and realize Foley hadn't messed things up. And, as a side bonus, she thought she might be able to poke around in order to gain some perspective on the current situation if she could take a personal look around Marlene's office. In Margo's opinion, it never hurt to perform a little investigation without being obvious.

"Do you help your mom with any of the administrative aspects of her business?" asked Margo as they entered the room.

"Not a lot," replied Sarah, "but I used to help her with filing sometimes - especially at the end of the year."

"So, you're familiar with her filing system," asked Margo, while scanning the room, noticing the numerous photos of children tacked to the cork board above the desk.

"Fairly," replied Sarah.

Moving closer to the desk Margo probed, "Who are all these kids?"

"Oh, some of them are kids that Mom has helped find homes through adoption or fostering," responded Sarah. "A few are just kids who spent some time here while their moms got their lives in order. People like to send Mom pictures to show how they've grown, you know. Mom always likes getting them. She remembers every kid that's ever come through here."

"That's wonderful. Your mom must really feel proud to have helped all these people." Margo pulled the chair back from the desk, "Would it be alright if I take a look around the desk?"

"What do you think you might find?" asked Sarah. "Besides, how would you know if anything was out of place?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly be looking for specific things. Like you said, how would I know what's supposed to be there?" Margo responded, "But, sometimes it's not the specifics that are important – it's the details."

Sarah rolled her eyes, "What's the difference? You're just talking in circles to confuse me."

"No. Seriously," Margo continued. "Look – see this area of dust right here?" Margo pointed out an obvious square-shaped, clean spot that was surrounded by a light layer of dust. "Something has recently been moved from that spot."

Sarah was slightly impressed, but didn't reveal that to Margo. "OK, but how would we know what was sitting there? I'm not here all that often, and wouldn't know what might have been taken."

"The problem is, we don't know what it was, who removed it, or why?" said Margo. "In fact, it could have been something your mom simply moved. We don't know."

"So why is that helpful?" asked Sarah.

"We don't know that it is," said Margo. "Why don't you take a look around in places that you are more familiar with. Look for things that might not be filed the way your mom would file them – like things that are out of order."

While Margo had diverted Sarah's attention to the filing system, she focused on the desk area. She had made a point to share the one spot removed of dust, but what she hadn't pointed out was the disarray of books aligning the bottom shelf of the bookcase adjacent the desk. At first glance, Margo had noticed that Marlene kept a fairly tidy office, and was seemingly meticulous in her method of storing books, files, stacks of bills, etc. That's why Margo felt this area was essential to place her focus.

It was obvious to Margo that things were packed too tightly in that area of the shelf. She figured something extra had to have been placed in there. But, which item was it? She removed one book, and suddenly it was obvious to her what was causing the tightness. Once the book was removed, a different book sprung partially open on the shelf. She pulled out that book to find it had a couple of CD's in square envelopes stowed inside. She noticed right away that the envelopes appeared to be about the same size as the clean spot on the desk. She carefully held one above the area, and sure enough the size matched. Adding validity to the possibility that those discs had been on the desk was the smudged dust on one side of one of the envelopes.

Margo pulled one of the CD's out of its envelope. There were no obvious markings – no label or writing. Looking across the room, she quickly recognized that Sarah had not noticed what she was up to. Being careful not to draw attention, she carefully slid the CD's into the waistband of her skirt and draped her blouse over them, so they wouldn't be noticed. She then replaced the books on the shelf, which fit neatly in place now that the CD's were removed.

As she was admiring her straightening job, her eye caught something - a manila something - sticking up from behind the books on that shelf. Again, removing a book or two revealed a folder that had been shoved behind the books. Could it be important? The only way to find out was to remove it, so Margo did just that.

She quietly laid the file on Marlene's desk and opened it. At first glance it appeared to be a simple collection of newspaper clippings and photos, nothing unusual. In fact, Margo didn't even pay much attention to the articles or titles themselves, until she flipped one over and recognized the photo on the next clipping staring back at her.

" Señorita Sarah," Alicia called into the room, "I start dinner, no?" She was trying to politely disturb, while at the same time insisting, "Maria can help. She need to eat."

Sarah stepped out of the room momentarily, so Margo took advantage of the alone time. She quickly stowed the file under her blouse, straightened the book shelf and brushed by the girls. She had one item on her agenda at the moment...

The old truck was running, not smoothly or quietly, but nonetheless the engine was operating. The jumper cables had been removed, and the men were hoping the battery would hold a charge if they kept the engine running.

"So, do you think we should head there tonight, or wait until daylight?" Tom asked.

"My guess is that we'd encounter fewer obstacles if waited until mid-morning," Foley responded. "Typically, Graves' handymen hang around the property at night, drinking, bragging and trading b.s. from the day, you know. By 10 am the riffraff is either passed out drunk or out doing Graves' dirty work.. Of course there are regular security issues and people to have to deal with, but the extras will be gone."

"Alright, then tonight we'll map out a plan, and tomorrow we'll execute it."

"Good," said Margo as she approached the men, "Bring me up to speed. I will be part of this plan, so don't leave anything out. But first I need to consult with my husband about something else."

Tom asked what was on her mind, but Margo made it clear that this would be a private conversation. Taking his arm and directing him away from Foley, she whispered, "I need to show you something."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

With no apologies or explanation, Margo led her husband back to their bedroom. Tom sensed her determination and knew better than to question his wife's insistence. As they reached their room, Tom playfully suggested, "Sweetie, if you wanted to get me alone, all you had to do was give me the nod."

"I wanted to get you alone, yes," Margo grinned and shook her head, "because I need to show you something."

"By your expression, I'm guessing it's not sexy new lingerie," Tom sighed.

Margo acted as if she didn't notice Tom's ever-growing smirk, "Geesh. You'd think you were 20 years old or something."

"You're only as old as you feel. Right?"

"I truly hope so baby. I plan to have you around for another fifty years," Margo smiled. "On the flip-side, this model right here, (she pointed toward herself) will probably need a major overhaul long before your libido shows any sign of slowing down."

"Ah," Tom smiled, "you've never had any trouble keeping up."

"You're insatiable."

"You have a problem with that?"

"You're incorrigible."

"You wouldn't have me any other way," Tom grinned as he grasped his wife's shoulders and then gave her a polite peck on the forehead. He stood back with a big smile on his face and his arms out stretched, watching for her reaction.

Margo's not the type to blush, and that's just fine with Tom. He so loved moments like this. To him it was like watching the sun rise. It began in her eyes, which tugged at her cheeks and eventually her entire face couldn't help but spread into a wide smile. He enjoyed the moment, privately relishing the fact that he knew his wife so well; intoxicated in the moment from her infectious spirit. He knew it would only be brief, because of all that was going on around them, but he also knew that it was good for both of them to step away from the seriousness now and then in order to avoid frustration; something he'd learned long ago - from her.

"Not that I don't absolutely adore just everything about you, my love," it was difficult for Margo to act as if Tom hadn't affected her, and she couldn't continue without brushing her fingers against his grinning chin, "but we've got work to do here, and time's not our friend right now."

"I'm all ears," Tom smiled as he pretended to bite at one of her fingers.

Margo sat down on the bed and laid the folder and CD's beside her. "I found these in Marlene's office."

"What is all this?"

"Now you're interested?"

Tom knelt down beside the bed to get a better view of the file. Margo shared, "I'm really having a hard time trying to figure out what to make of all this. I mean, I found it behind some books. And, we really have no idea who left it. Marlene would be the obvious choice, since it's her office. But, it could have just as easily been Foley, given that we don't have a clue what he was doing or how long he was in there." She started to open the file, and then pointed out, "The only person who I feel confident we can rule out is Sarah. She would have been too nervous when I was snooping around that part of the office. Plus, it just wouldn't make sense."

Tom's interest was now piqued, "So, what exactly are we looking at? You've got me curious."

"You tell me," remarked Margo. "I'm a little weirded out by it."

She opened the file. It was loaded with old newspaper clippings, pictures and printed pages from Internet searches. It would appear a typical file Tom may receive if he'd ordered a background check on a witness. The difference was that this file was loaded with pictures, articles and other documents related solely to his own family.

"What the..." Tom uttered as he began spreading file contents all over the bed. The contents were thorough; there were documents of cases he had won and lost, there were documents related to cases that Margo had been involved in, there were newspaper articles highlighting successes and failures - notably, Tom paused as his eyes caught the front page article of the _Intruder _with Margo's department photo next to Casey's senior class picture, the headline read, _Hughes Named First Female Chief as Son Arrested for Burglary_. His eyes began to scan the article as Margo picked up a pile of photos.

"Tom!" Margo remarked with a start. She was shuffling through several photos rapidly. "Tom, these aren't just random surveillance photos. Someone took great care to capture these horrible moments in our lives. I feel sick."

There was a picture of Margo cosily having a intimate dinner with Alec Wallace and another of her and Tom having a heated argument outside of Lyla's old house in Oakdale many years ago. There was a snapshot of Tom dancing with their old friend Shannon McKecknie that was clearly trying to implicate more was going on than a simple dance. A couple photos showed Tom with Emily Stewart, one where he was holding an infant Daniel while Emily smiled over his shoulder. Another photo showed Tom attempting to hustle Margo from an excited group of press members after she made a mockery of one of his press conferences. There was one photo of Margo laughing with Coleman "Doc" Reese at Al's Diner and there were many photos of Margo with Hal Munson.

Margo stopped shuffling through the photos when she came across one that had captured Tom in the background with a very defeated, hurt look on his face as he was watching her and Hal dance at the Mona-Lisa restaurant over 20 years ago.

She dropped the pictures and they fell all over the floor. She cupped her hands over her mouth trying desperately to hold back her body's reaction to want to vomit.

"What is all this?" Tom looked up to notice Margo's reaction. She was in tears, bent over with her face buried in her hands. "Sweetie?" He knelt down in front of his wife, "Hey, shh..." He tried to comfort her by brushing his hand over her head.

Margo looked up at him and choked out, "I feel like I can't even breathe." Tom put his arms around her and she leaned her head into his chest. "Someone has been tracking us for years. How is this possible? I feel... I can't br..."

She was almost hyperventilating. She felt the need to get up from the bed and run somewhere, anywhere, as fast as she possibly could go. Yet, the same impulse caused her to fall to her knees and throw her arms around Tom with a vice-like grip.

"Honey, most of this is stuff from newspapers and court documents. It looks like a background check file." Tom said, trying to comfort Margo.

"Oh gosh," she sighed, "you haven't seen the pictures, Tom. Most of these were taken right in front of our faces, and we had no clue." She wiped at her eye and then her nose, trying to regain composure, "I've never felt this violated before..." she put her fingers to her lips as her chin began to quiver, "well, that's not true..." her words hung in the air like the vacant expression she wore on her face.

Tom didn't have to question where her thoughts were. "Hey," he brushed the backs of his fingers across her cheek, "look at me." Margo blinked, causing a tear to drop down her cheek. As Tom wiped it away with his thumb she looked up at him. He cupped her face in both of his hands and calmly said, "Baby, we're alright. OK? Finding this... this, this _file_is disturbing, but we can't fall apart now."

"Disturbing..." Margo chuckled sarcastically through her tears. "Tom, this is downright scary Some sick, twisted psycho has been stalking us forever."

Tom bent down and began picking up the pictures that were scattered all over the floor. The pace at which he picked them up slowed as he began to notice what Margo was trying to tell him. "My God," Tom muttered. He was no longer kneeling, but was sitting on the floor with his back against the bed. His face went blank as he slowly placed one after the other in his left hand. Suddenly, he realized that Margo was on the verge of an emotional collapse, so he hastened his pace, got up and placed all of the pictures face-down on the bed.

He took a deep breath and pulled Margo over to sit right beside him. She landed with a sense of lifelessness and her face was completely emotionless. "Margo," Tom began as he leaned toward her and pulled her forehead to meet his, "it's alright. We can deal with this. Don't fall apart on me now." He closed his eyes and just held her close to him.

"Deal with this," she mumbled in a near whisper. "That's just it... I don't want to deal with this. Tom, I want to go home." Her words came out as if an exhausted plea, "I just want this whole nightmare to be over... and I wish..." she could no longer speak through her tears.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Margo had gone limp and was now laying on the bed with her face buried in the pillow. She had repeated the words, "I wish... I wish..." through weary breaths until she succumbed to her own exhaustion, her crying no longer able to produce tears. Tom was rubbing her back, hoping that would calm her down.

"I wish you wouldn't let this affect you so much sweetie," he said softly as he wiped the sweat from his upper lip, willing himself not to break down also. "Please roll over and let me know that you're alright."

Slowly, Margo rolled so that she was on her side, facing away from Tom. She felt as if the world was caving in on her - defeated. She couldn't even face Tom.

"Honey, please look at me."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

Margo did not respond. Tom heard her sniff a couple of times before he tried again, "Baby, please. You just can't let this idiot win. Come on..." Tom's voice cracked as he was trying desperately not to give in to his emotions.

Realizing Tom was about to break, Margo softly muttered, "I don't even know what to say."

"Just talk to me."

"I can't. It's just... I don't know why this is happening. I'm so sorry Tom."

"What are you sorry about? This isn't your fault."

She rolled onto her back and stared straight up at the ceiling. "Maybe it is."

"What?" Tom was surprised by her response. "You're exhausted. I don't want you to think like that."

She closed her eyes and continued her thought, "Maybe this is all some form of punishment."

"Punishment?" Tom was concerned where this was leading. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm being punished."

"Honey, now I know you're exhausted. You're being irrational."

Margo was picking at her fingernails. She seemed calmer, and far less emotional. "I know you think I'm losing it, but I'm not. I mean, I've been really foolish at times over the years, but I am thinking clearly right now."

"Foolish?"

"It's like being smacked up-side the head." Margo looked Tom in the eye for the first time since breaking down. A tear rolled down her cheek, but she continued calmly, "You know, sometimes the memories fade so much, it's like you forget - you know, forget to the point that you can almost rewrite history in your mind, or at least act like certain things really didn't happen the way they did."

"Seriously Margo, What on earth are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about how much I have wished over the years that I could have changed some of the things I did to you in the past - erase the things I did that really hurt you." Margo's composure was much more sober as she continued to express her point, "I mean there are things I wanted so much to forget that I have almost completely altered my own memories. How foolish is that?"

Tom looked at her consolingly and brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek, "Come on, stop beating yourself up. You're not the only one who wishes they could erase certain things. We've both hurt each other over the years, but we've gotten past all that."

"Well," Margo sighed and rubbed her nose, "the difference is that you never try to hide the truth like I have."

"What have you hidden?" Tom asked. "You don't hide things. In fact, you face things head-on. You always do."

"No Tom." Margo was very emphatic. "I have. Ok, maybe not hide things I've done, but hide _from_the things that I've done - hide from the truth. Sitting here looking at these photos… it's like the truth is just staring me right in the face."

Tom looked puzzled, "What truth do you hide from?"

"This is so difficult to articulate." Margo hesitated. She looked into Tom's eyes and smiled as best as she could muster. She was so certain of this man's love for her, and her love for him. She knew there was nothing they could not talk about. They had been through so much together, and she was so thankful for him. "It's just that looking at these pictures, it all comes flooding back – how much I hurt you."

"And how much I hurt you, too."

Margo sorted through the pictures and pulled out a couple, "But, I had pushed what happened between Hal and I so far back in my brain, I had nearly convinced myself it was way less than it was. And now, I see this picture of you here – looking so hurt…"

Tom took hold of the pictures, wrapping his hands around hers. "Margo, that was decades ago. Plus, I had plenty to do with what happened between us back then – the way I pretty much walked out of your life after we lost the baby." Tom's tone changed, wanting to change the mood in the room. "Besides, why are you letting this bother you now? We are so different from who we were back then. We've been through so much and matured a great deal. We've grown closer with each challenge we've faced. Why are you insisting on going back there?"

"I just can't help thinking that someone somewhere wants me to pay for something here. Fate certainly hasn't been on our side for the past several days."

"I agree, but it's not because you are being punished by fate," Tom was growing frustrated, but not at Margo. He, too, wanted this nightmare to be over, but had no more control than she did at the moment. "Someone out there is causing all of this trouble, and it has nothing to do with anything we ever did to one another. So, please stop trying to make it about that." He cupped Margo's cheeks in his hands and looked her square in the eyes, "Honey, we are fine. And I need to know that you know that. I need to know that you don't think there are unspoken issues between us. Because I need you; I need your strength and intelligence in order to help get us through this. Do you believe me? Do you trust in us?"

Margo looked into Tom's eyes. She saw the determination behind them. "I do trust in us. I will always trust in us. Tom, you're my rock. I can get through anything as long as you're beside me."

Tom smiled, "Look at what all we've gone through together. And we are going to get through this, too. But we have to remain strong. We can't let our emotions get the better of us, or we'll lose focus."

"Ok… ok," Margo put her arms around her husband with renewed strength and determination, "I promise. I promise I won't lose focus. I want to get through this – with you."

"That's my girl," Tom kissed the top of Margo's head and held her tightly. "Now, I think we'd better head to dinner."


End file.
